Jalisco, Mexico - Just ten months after Hurricane Patricia devastated villages along the coasts of Colima and Jalisco, Mexico's Ministry of Agrarian, Land and Urban Development (Sedatu) reports that the reconstruction of homes and infrastructure in the affected areas is nearing completion.

Because of the strength and size of Patricia (she was the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere,) thousands of farmers, small business owners and families living in several villages in Jalisco and Colima suffered dire living situations due to heavy flooding, the loss of all services and, for many, the loss of everything they owned.

Today, less than a year after the tragedy occurred, Sedatu reports that government reconstruction activities are progressing rapidly, with 90 percent of the construction of decent, livable and safe housing realized and more than 50 percent of infrastructure and general repairs completed.

Before construction began on the new, safer houses for the 48 families who lost their homes in Chamela, Jalisco, (the village that was hardest hit,) a feasibility study established that the original homes, which were surrounded by two normally dry streams, were situated in a potential floodplain. To prevent the natural course of the rivers from endangering its population again, the land was filled in to avoid future flood damage. The new houses were built on that platform.

The Natural Disaster Fund (Fonden) is providing money for the homes, which are scheduled to be completed by September or October, in addition to new infrastructure, including sidewalks and wheelchair ramps as well as a new river rock entrance to the village.

Underground services will deliver water and electricity to the 45-square-meter, two-bedroom houses that are being built with a type of brick that offers improved insulation qualities.

Hurricane Patricia caused six deaths and destroyed hundreds of homes in coastal areas of Jalisco and Colima, with damage calculated at more than 25.6 billion pesos. The cost of repairing the damage in Chamela alone is estimated to be upwards of 3.4 billion pesos.