Monday, February 9, 2026

Chona Challenge brings some humor to Sinaloa emergency

The Chona Challenge is a dance routine normally performed next to a moving passenger vehicle (or even a plane) that was big in Mexico during the summer.

Yesterday, it made a comeback in Sinaloa, where a young man made do with a boat.

An emergency has been declared in 11 municipalities in the state due to severe flooding and many people have resorted to using boats to navigate flooded streets.

And so was born the Chona Challenge Sinaloa style.

The young man hopped out of a small boat and did the dance in waist-deep water, urged on by his friends aboard the vessel, putting a brave face on a situation in which up to 300,000 homes have been affected by flooding.

The army said today it has deployed 1,596 personnel to both Sinaloa and Sonora. In the latter state the number of flood victims has been estimated at 170,000.

Farmers too may be among the victims. They are waiting for floodwaters to drop before they can estimate the damage to some 20,000 hectares of crops.

Transportation officials say 870 kilometers of roads have been damaged in Sinaloa, including the highway between Los Mochis, Sinaloa, and Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, where potholes are being repaired on a 70-kilometer stretch.

The heavy rains fell last week during tropical storm 19-E.

Source: Milenio (sp), Excélsior (sp), Reforma (sp)

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