Mexico City (EFE).- The torrential rains that have battered central and eastern Mexico in recent days, leaving at least 64 people dead, have caused unprecedented destruction to roads, bridges, and rural infrastructure, with damages comparable to events that occur “once every 1,000 years,” authorities said Tuesday.
During Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, Jesús Esteva, head of the Infrastructure, Communications, and Transport Ministry (SICT), said 358 incidents have been recorded nationwide, including landslides, sinkholes, and bridge collapses.
Of those, 99 have been resolved, 115 are under repair, and 144 remain inaccessible due to ongoing landslides.
Four states affected, power restored 91%
The hardest-hit areas are the states of Hidalgo, Veracruz, Puebla, and Querétaro, where more than 300 communities remain cut off.
In parts of Huayacocotla and Zontecomatlán (Veracruz), landslides have stretched up to one kilometer (0.6 miles) long, forcing authorities to deploy military helicopters to deliver food and technical crews.
Emilia Calleja, director of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), reported that 91% of electricity service has been restored across the five affected states.
“In the last 24 hours alone, more than 18,000 users have been reconnected, and another 23,700 remain pending,” she said.
“We’ve already restored power to 25 hospitals,” Calleja added, while acknowledging that access difficulties and unstable terrain have slowed progress. “Our commitment is to restore service as quickly as possible while ensuring the safety of both our workers and the public.”
Images shown during the briefing revealed helicopters installing transmission towers in remote areas, highlighting the scale of the challenge.
National response and health concerns
Efraín Morales, head of the National Water Commission (CONAGUA), said authorities are conducting drainage and levee reinforcement work in at least 10 states, including Acapulco, Tabasco, Veracruz, Hidalgo, the State of Mexico, Tlaxcala, Jalisco, and Chiapas, in coordination with the Navy.
“These efforts have allowed us to better manage this rainy season,” Morales said.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary David Kershenobich confirmed that most hospitals remain operational, with only three currently running on backup generators.
However, access to isolated areas remains a key challenge.
“To reach populations cut off by landslides, we’ve deployed 471 vaccination teams and 242 mobile medical units, with a goal of exceeding 1,000 brigades in the coming days,” Kershenobich said.
He added that vector-control teams have been activated to prevent dengue outbreaks in the flooded regions. EFE
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