Close to 1 million people in Mexico City have been left without running water mainly due to high temperatures produced by a high-pressure weather system.

The water shortfall is being felt in seven of the city’s 16 boroughs: Iztacalco, Iztapalapa, Benito Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, Tlalpan, Azcapotzalco and Venustiano Carranza.

City authorities blamed an atypical high-pressure system, damage to the power grid by high winds, the diversion of water to aid farmers and a spike in demand by as much as 20% because of the heat.

Relief is still at least a few days away as the heat wave recedes northward; moisture is expected to reach the city in the coming days.

The director of the city’s water system, who explained that the capital went through a similar dry spell 85 years ago, warned that even if it starts raining on Monday or Tuesday, water service won’t be fully restored until two or three days after.

In the meantime, the government has deployed a fleet of 390 tanker trucks to distribute water in the affected boroughs. Each will make three trips per day, with which authorities expect to be able to deliver 12 million liters daily until the shortage is over.

The city estimated that the flow of water from the Lerma aqueduct has declined by 700,000 liters per second, while the Cutzamala aqueduct is operating at 60% capacity.

Elsewhere in the country, it’s hurricane season.

The first named phenomenon on the Pacific coast, Hurricane Aletta, strengthened from category 2 to 4 in the lapse of 12 hours yesterday, with wind speeds reaching 270 kilometers per hour. But the storm has been located well off the coast and was rapidly weakening this afternoon, the United States National Hurricane Center said.

It was situated about 430 kilometers southwest of Socorro Island, in the Revillagigedo Islands, and 865 kilometers south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California Sur.

Source: Milenio (sp)