Borderland Prepares For Potentially Wet Holiday Weekend

Hopefully, Borderland residents will see and hear plenty of fireworks this holiday weekend.

But it seems like there’s a chance for rain every Fourth of July, and this year, Alex is the culprit.

Alex made landfall in Soto La Marina in Tamaulipas, Mexico Wednesday, about 110 miles south of Brownsville, Texas, and also spread winds and rain to the Rio Grande Valley.

With the possibility of Alex’s remnant moisture heading our way, fireworks stands and festival organizers in the Borderland are making plans…just in case.

“That’s why we already take the precaution of covering the stands and making sure we don’t have any leaks inside the stands to protect the fireworks,” said Mario Gasca, who sells fireworks at a stand on Montana in far east El Paso.

And what if the fireworks get wet? “We do our best to cover everything and if they do get wet, what we do is we don’t sell ’em – we right away put ’em away,” said Gasca.

Eddie Martinez has loved fireworks ever since he was a kid, and came to Gasca’s stand to buy some. He wasn’t worried. “Fireworks look good in the rain,” he said.

Meanwhile, organizers of the El Paso Downtown Street Festival say rain or shine – the show will go on. “The only way we would postpone the fireworks display is heavy winds. That’s the only way we would postpone it,” said Pifas Silva, communications manager for the El Paso Convention Center.

Besides, the organizers are bound by contract to have the fireworks. “If there’s a heavy drizzle, we’ll just move it by a few minutes, maybe 30 minutes, maybe 45 minutes the latest, but we will definitely have a fireworks spectacular both nights for the viewing audience,” adds Silva.

And that should put a smile on everyone’s face this Fourth of July weekend.