- At least 64 fatalities reported due to recent floods across Mexico.
- Rescue operations underway, with personnel working on temporary shelters and aid distribution.
- The floods were from heavy rains attributed to Hurricane Pricilla and Tropical Storm Raymond.
Torrential rains over the past seven days poured down on multiple Mexican states, causing floods and mudslides that have killed at least 64 people across the country.
The death toll was updated by the Mexican government on Monday, according to BBC, even as rescue efforts continue.
The heavy rains lasted for several days causing floods that swept away vehicles and destroyed houses and roads.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has traveled to some of the impacted communities and announced Sunday that a census will begin among affected people for aid distribution.
“No one will be left helpless,” she wrote in a post on X.
A response plan is being put together to support 139 impacted towns, per Reuters.
On Sunday night, Mexico’s Civil Protection agency reported that people had died in multiple states: Veracruz, Hildago, Puebla and Queretaro.
The death toll could still rise as rescue workers continue to dig through communities that have been covered with mud and debris. At least 65 people have been reported missing, per BBC.
Authorities attributed the heavy rains to two tropical systems that formed off the western coast of Mexico and have since dissipated: Hurricane Priscilla and Tropical Storm Raymond.
In areas devastated by the floods hundreds of personnel, police officers and firefighters have conducted rescue operations and have set up temporary shelters for stranded residents, per the AP.
As of Sunday thousands of people across Mexico didn’t have running water or electricity.
“There are still various communities in Veracruz that find themselves cut off that fortunately today they were able to establish air bridges to be able to take food, water and attend to any sick people,” Sheinbaum said on a visit to Veracruz Sunday, per the AP. “We know that there is a lot of desperation and worry. We’re going to get to everyone.”
The heavy rains occurred between Monday and Thursday, with the highest rainfall recorded in Veracruz which received over 21 inches, per The New York Times.
In the town of Poza Rica, some low-lying neighborhoods saw at least 12 feet of water when the Cazones River jumped its banks on Friday.
