Mexico’s rapid response to the severe flooding in the center of the country earlier this month has restored all power and reconnected most of the affected communities, the Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation Minister Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina said on Monday.
Over 50,000 homes were damaged across the central and eastern states of Hidalgo, Veracruz, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí and Puebla when Tropical Storm Raymond hit on Oct. 9 and 10, provoking intense rain that caused flooding and landslides across at least 109 municipalities.
A week after Mexico’s floods, the death toll is at 72 and dozens remain missing
Since the disaster, 220 of the 288 affected roads have been cleared, 1,277 of 1,475 schools have been cleaned of debris, and electricity has been restored to 100% of communities, Esteva Medina said during the daily presidential press conference on Monday.
Wellbeing Minister Ariadna Montiel confirmed on Monday that the government continues to carry out work in 119 towns. A total of 103,245 homes have been surveyed across all affected municipalities, and 70,256 people are in the process of receiving financial support to address damage to their homes.
Around 413,965 food parcels have been delivered and 463,682 vaccinations administered, according to Esteva Medina. The government has deployed 53,394 support personnel as part of the response efforts.
President Claudia Sheinbaum thanked the electricians from the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), whose work helped to restore power to the affected communities.
CFE deployed 1,602 workers, 503 pickup trucks, 219 cranes, six helicopters and eight drones as part of its response efforts, the agency’s general director, Emilia Calleja, reported on Friday.
The Morena government’s Wellbeing Program allowed for direct censuses to be taken as part of emergency response efforts, without the use of intermediaries, marking a change from previous national reconstruction work.
Several communities across the region continue to face challenges, including property and infrastructure loss. The region’s economy has also been hit hard, as many have been unable to work and farmers have suffered widespread crop losses.
The death toll from the rains and floods rose to 81 on Monday, with Veracruz recording the highest number of fatalities. Eighteen people remain missing.
With reports from La Jornada, Infobae and Aristegui Noticias
