The flooding that has claimed scores of lives across four states — and the government’s response to it — was the central focus of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Monday morning press conference.
National Civil Protection chief Laura Velázquez reported that the death toll had risen to 64, with 65 other people missing.
The fatalities occurred in Veracruz, Hidalgo, Puebla and Querétaro.
Sheinbaum: There are ‘sufficient resources’ to respond to the flooding
Sheinbaum acknowledged that the federal National Disasters Fund (Fonden) no longer exists, but asserted that there is sufficient money in the budget to provide “all the support that is needed” to respond to the widespread flooding.
In 2025, there is 19 billion pesos in the budget (just over US $1 billion) for natural disaster relief, she said, explaining that only around 3 billion pesos of that amount has been used to date.
“There are sufficient resources,” Sheinbaum said, adding that the government wouldn’t “skimp on” its response.
Fonden was abolished in 2021 during the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. In 2020, AMLO claimed that the fund had been used as a “petty cash box” by corrupt officials.
Sheinbaum: Rain of such ‘magnitude’ was not expected
A reporter noted that the death toll associated with the flooding, and the number of missing people, are both high.
Flooding death toll reaches 64, Veracruz most affected with 29 dead, 18 missing
“Were there no alerts? Was the population not informed in time? Did you not receive enough information? What happened?” the reporter asked the president.
“I’m going to ask the navy minister to explain how this meteorological phenomenon occurred,” Sheinbaum said.
“… There was a warning that there would be heavy rains, but several phenomena occurred … that produced this intense rainfall, which was not expected to be of this magnitude,” she said.
“In other words, there was no scientific or meteorological condition that could have indicated to us that the rain would be of this magnitude,” Sheinbaum said.
Navy Minister Raymundo Morales indicated that a range of weather systems, including Tropical Storm Priscilla, Tropical Storm Raymond, Tropical Storm Octave, a low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Veracruz and a cold front that moved into Mexico from Texas, created significant “atmospheric activity” and contributed to the heavy rain in states including Veracruz, Hidalgo and Puebla.
He noted that Mexico is currently in the “final part” of the rainy season and consequently rivers “are at a maximum level of capacity,” while “water tables are quite loaded.”
Consequently, various rivers burst their banks, which caused flooding, Morales said.
“This is predictable, it can be identified from analyzing the meteorological context. However, identifying exactly how much rain is going to fall isn’t so easy,” he said.
The navy minister said that warnings to move away from rivers were issued to residents in Veracruz, which has recorded the highest number of fatalities.
“For that reason, we were able to prevent some losses of human lives and assets,” Morales said.
‘I explained to them that more support was going to arrive’
Sheinbaum acknowledged that she faced criticism from residents of Poza Rica during her visit on Sunday to the flood-affected municipality in Veracruz.
“I personally got out of the vehicle so I could listen to the people,” she said.
Sheinbaum said that people “fairly” asked for more help, for “more tools” to remove “all this mud” in the city, and for “support” for families.
“I explained to them that more support was going to arrive and that, in addition, [damage] censuses were going to be carried out and no family would be left abandoned,” she said.
By Mexico News Daily chief staff writer Peter Davies (peter.davies@mexiconewsdaily.com)
