64 dead in Mexico as floods wreak havoc, 10,000 troops deployed for rescue ops

Rescuers scrambled Monday to reach people cut off by devastating floods that have claimed 64 lives in central and eastern Mexico, with another 65 reported missing.

Torrential rains battered several Mexican states over several days last week, turning streets into rivers, triggering landslides and sweeping away roads and bridges.

Dozens of small communities remained inaccessible by road Monday, days after the deluge, and residents worked tirelessly to clear paths for the delivery of food and other supplies.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday around 10,000 troops have been deployed with boats, planes and helicopters as part of rescue efforts and to deliver critical food and water for those trapped.

Shelters have been opened for those displaced from their homes, and helicopters were flying to and fro to bring essentials to people cut off from the rest of the world.

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“Many flights are needed…to deliver enough food and water,” the president told reporters Monday.

According to Laura Velazquez, the head of Mexico’s civil defense authority, the states of Veracruz, Hidalgo and Puebla were hardest hit by flooding brought on by days of heavy rains.

In Hidalgo alone, 43 people were reported missing.

She updated the death toll that had stood at 47 just 12 hours earlier, indicative of the fast-unfolding scale of the disaster.

Mexico has been hit by particularly heavy rains this year, including a record for the capital Mexico City.

‘Difficult’ to predict

In the municipality of Tenango de Doria in Hidalgo state, AFP witnessed residents walking kilometers in search of food and water, with flooded roads inaccessible for most vehicles.

Some carried bundles of belongings with them in the hopes of finding a shelter for displaced people.

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“We walked two-and-a-half hours through the mud…Everything is completely undone; we have no supplies, no food, nothing,” Marco Mendoza, a 35-year-old farmer, told AFP of his unsuccessful search for food in stores in Tenango de Doria, the main urban center for miles.

Stores in the center had no electricity, and residents massed in the central plaza to inquire about road openings and the arrival of aid.

Francisco Hernandez, a 63-year-old farmer from the neighboring town of El Texme, said a river that burst its banks left his community “trapped.”

Heavy rains often occur during Mexico’s wet season from May to October, but last week’s downpours were made more dangerous by the combination of a tropical system from the Gulf of Mexico and a cold front from the north, according to meteorologists.

Dwellers of coastal cities and towns in the state of Veracruz, crisscrossed by many rivers, were instructed last Friday to evacuate due to rising waters.

In several high-lying inhabited areas, however, the persistent rains washed away mountain sides that spilled downhill as landslides.

Sheinbaum on Monday batted away questions about possible failures in early warning and preparedness.

“It would have been difficult to have information in advance about this situation, unlike what happens with hurricanes,” she said, citing a combination of unpredictable meteorological factors.

Skies cleared in many parts on Sunday, allowing work with heavy clearance machinery to get underway.