At least 64 people have died and 65 remain missing in Mexico following heavy rains that caused flooding and left a trail of destruction across central and eastern Mexico.
Rescue operations intensified across the affected regions on Monday as emergency teams battled to reach communities cut off by the severe flooding.
Days of torrential rainfall last week inundated several states, turning roads into raging rivers, triggering landslides, and destroying bridges and infrastructure. The government said the worst-hit areas included Hidalgo, Puebla, Queretaro, and Veracruz.
President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that approximately 10,000 troops had been mobilised, equipped with boats, aircraft, and helicopters to carry out rescues and deliver vital aid such as food and water to stranded residents.
“Many flights are needed to deliver enough food and water,” the president said on Monday.
Shelters have been set up to house displaced families, while rescue helicopters have been conducting multiple daily flights to reach remote villages cut off from access routes.
Laura Velazquez, head of Mexico’s civil defense agency, said Veracruz, Hidalgo, and Puebla were the hardest hit by the floods brought on by days of intense rainfall.
In Hidalgo alone, 43 people were reported missing. Velazquez said the national death toll had climbed sharply from 47 just 12 hours earlier, underscoring the rapidly worsening scale of the disaster.
Mexico has endured unusually heavy rainfall this year, including a record-breaking downpour in the capital, Mexico City.
In the town of Tenango de Doria in Hidalgo state, residents trekked long distances through submerged terrain in search of food and safe shelter, carrying what belongings they could as roads remained impassable.
Meteorologists said the disaster was caused by a dangerous combination of a tropical system moving in from the Gulf of Mexico and a cold front descending from the north. While heavy rains are typical between May and October, the convergence of these weather systems significantly amplified their destructive force.
Residents of low-lying and riverine communities in Veracruz were ordered to evacuate last Friday as water levels surged, while in upland areas, unrelenting rain triggered landslides that swept down hillsides and buried parts of villages.
Sheinbaum defended the government’s response, saying: “It would have been difficult to have information in advance about this situation, unlike what happens with hurricanes,” citing the unpredictable convergence of meteorological factors.
As floodwaters continue to rise in parts of the country, emergency teams are working around the clock to locate missing persons and bring relief to the thousands displaced by one of the most devastating flood events Mexico has faced in recent years.
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