“DIFFICULT” TO PREDICT
In the municipality of Tenango de Doria in Hidalgo state, AFP witnessed residents walking kilometres in search of food and water, with flooded roads inaccessible for most vehicles.
Some carried bundles of belongings with them in the hopes of finding a shelter for displaced people.
“We walked two-and-a-half hours through the mud … Everything is completely undone; we have no supplies, no food, nothing,” Marco Mendoza, a 35-year-old farmer, told AFP of his unsuccessful search for food in stores in Tenango de Doria, the main urban centre for miles.
Stores in the centre had no electricity, and residents massed in the central plaza to inquire about road openings and the arrival of aid.
Francisco Hernandez, a 63-year-old farmer from the neighbouring town of El Texme, said a river that burst its banks left his community “trapped.”
Heavy rains often occur during Mexico’s wet season from May to October, but last week’s downpours were made more dangerous by the combination of a tropical system from the Gulf of Mexico and a cold front from the north, according to meteorologists.
Dwellers of coastal cities and towns in the state of Veracruz, crisscrossed by many rivers, were instructed last Friday to evacuate due to rising waters.
In several high-lying inhabited areas, however, the persistent rains washed away mountain sides that spilled downhill as landslides.
Sheinbaum on Monday batted away questions about possible failures in early warning and preparedness.
“It would have been difficult to have information in advance about this situation, unlike what happens with hurricanes,” she said, citing a combination of unpredictable meteorological factors.
Skies cleared in many parts on Sunday, allowing work with heavy clearance machinery to get underway.
Source: CNA
