According to the British "Guardian" reported on the 23rd, when Trump opened the US presidential campaign in 2015, he claimed that "no one can be better at building walls than me", but now at least it can be said that this is a questionable statement.
Image source: Foreign media
Trump insisted that the border "Great Wall" he plans to build in the southern United States will be "indestructible, tangible, tall, powerful and beautiful." However, photos of the scene published by Gizmodo's website show that an unfinished section of the border wall in southern Arizona has fallen into severe disrepair, and the metal fence has been torn to pieces by the rains of the summer rainy season, which the website says "literally blew the floodgates out of the hinges." The site writes that at least six floodgates were washed away in a place near Douglas.
Other parts of the border wall were also hit by last week's strong monsoon, and a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Immigration Services confirmed that the floods did wash away parts of the wall in Douglas City, according to a local newspaper, Tucson Sentinel.
In 2020, when Trump is still in power, experts warn that the $21 billion, 701-mile-long border wall, along some places along the floodgates, needs to remain open during heavy rains and floods to avoid collapsing in flood waves carrying rocks, sediments, branches and other debris.
But because of its remote location, many gates must be opened manually, and each time it remains unguarded for months — potentially making it easy for smugglers and migrants to enter the United States, the Washington Post reported.
The floodgates of the border wall appeared to be open during last week's storm, but after months of drought, the wall is still unable to cope with this "historic flood.". According to climate experts at the University of Arizona, the Douglas region has nearly twice as much monsoon rainfall this year. According to the Tucson Sentinel, the city of Douglas recently suffered heavy rainfall, and at 8:30 p.m. on the 17th of this month, the water flow in some parts of the local area reached about 8 cubic meters per second.
U.S. President Joe Biden froze construction of the border wall after taking office in January and ordered a review of costs. In April, the Pentagon announced the cancellation of a wall-building contract funded by the Trump administration and paid for with military funds.
The Guardian said Trump had insisted that Mexico would pay for the border wall — a claim that proved false. Construction of this section of the border wall began in 2017, but has been plagued by lawsuits and cost overruns.
Earlier this year, the Guardian reported that a section of the border wall, about 1.5 kilometers long and costing $27 million to build, can be easily climbed with a ladder bought for $5.
(Editor: WDQ)