wall of water spilled over a small shanty town of 10,000, thousands of which lived in cardboard shacks. Some shacks were swept away from their initial location. The ensuing mudslide is regarded as the worst in the History of Mexico. Most of the deaths from the hurricane were due to the dam failure; streets also received flooding from the dam burst. Initially, government officials denied that the dam was poorly built; many politicians and an engineer for the nation's water company blamed the dam's poor construction as the source of the extreme death toll. Prior to the arrival of the storm, many residents had repeatedly requested that a stone wall be built to protect their homes. After the storm, they said that the deaths could have been prevented. According to one account, two master planned communities were situated in the middle of the drainage and were thus deluged by the storm. The water department head took the blame for the construction, but also said that the disaster was a natural phenomenon. "Dozens" of people were also swept away into the Gulf of California when Hurricane Liza destroyed a sea wall, which, ironically, had been built to prevent flooding from such storms. Nine children got swept under mud. The highway that connected Baja California with California was also destroyed in many places, more than originally anticipated. In fact, there were holes in the asphalt pavement. Bridges up to long were twisted. Due to flooding, troops evacuated dozens of communities along the Gulf coast. Many desert communities throughout the state were left without any telephone or electrical service; wood, tarpaper, and cardboard were all scattered. Dozens of scores of huts were destroyed. Many humans were swept into the gulf. Sixteen people died inside the remains of a building. Moreover, the Piojillo river overflowed its banks, killing many people and resulting in considerable damage. Elsewhere, destruction was reported in San Jose del Cabo, Cabo San Lucas, San Lucas, and Puntas Arena; Pichilinague also received moderate damage. However, there are no known reports of any casualties in all four of those places. Hurricane Liza was also one of six hurricane to directly impact Los Cabos. South of La Paz, communications and telephone services were cut off to 13 smaller communities. A highway that extends as far south as Cabo San Lucas was blocked. Further north, a highway that links La Paz to places along