Newly installed panels from the US border wall fell over in high winds today, landing on trees on the Mexican side of the border.
Agent Carlos Pitones of the Customs and Border Protection sector in El Centro, California, said that the sections that gave way had recently been set in a new concrete foundation in Calexico, California.
The concrete had not yet cured, according to Pitones, and the wall panels were unable to withstand the windy conditions.
The National Weather Service reports that winds in the area gusted as high as 37 mph today.
Video from KYMA TV in Yuma shows the metal panels leaning against trees adjacent to a Mexicali, Mexico, street as the wind whips up dirt from the construction site on the other side of the border.
Customs and Border Protection says local Mexicali officials diverted traffic from the area of the accident, and the agency is working with the Mexican government on the next steps to right the wall.
Pitones said it is not currently known how long the construction work in the area will need to be suspended in order to allow for cleanup.
Three years into his presidency, President Trump’s signature campaign promise has faced a host of legal and logistical challenges.
Even with funding, the administration will have to contend with private landowners whose property may be seized to build barriers along the border.
Trump has sought to pull hundreds of millions of dollars from several government accounts as his administration looks to construct 450 miles of barriers in the ramp-up to the presidential election.
The Government Accountability Office released a report last year warning that the wall will likely be much costlier than expected.
The border’s varying topography and issues related to land ownership are expected to dramatically increase the wall’s price tag.