Heavy rains cut access to 25 communities
3 states affected by heavy rainfall, and there's more coming
Mexico News Daily | Monday, October 19, 2015
Heavy rains are wreaking havoc in Veracruz, Quintana Roo and Chiapas, where communities have been cut off and some families evacuated due to damage caused by flooding and mudslides.
About 62 people have taken refuge in shelters as at least five rivers are threatening to overflow.Mudslides have cut off access to 25 municipalities in Veracruz and left damages in 19 others, according to the state’s Civil Protection office. The Amozoc-Nautla highway has been closed in Atzalan.
One man is dead after being swept away by a river near Santiago Tuxtla after he attempted to save another man, reportedly inebriated, who had fallen in the water. The latter individual was saved.
Governor Javier Duarte said on Twitter all schools at all levels have been closed.
Twenty-five families in the Chiapas municipality of Ixhuatán were evacuated after their homes were damaged by a mudslide, while 10 people had to leave their homes in Reforma because of flooding.
Twenty-three municipalities in the north of the state have seen the heaviest of the rain.
In Quintana Roo, the mayor of Chetumal reports 400 millimeters of rain has fallen in three days, what normally would be seen over three months. Eduardo Espinosa Abuxapqui said there is widespread flooding in the city, with floodwater reaching heights of 90 centimeters.
He said the municipality has no funds for carrying out repairs and is relying on emergency and disaster funding from the federal government.
The state has declared an emergency in the municipalities of Benito Juárez, Solidaridad, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Bacalar and Othón P. Blanco.
More heavy rain — from intense to torrential — is forecast for parts of Oaxaca, Puebla, Chiapas, Tabasco and Veracruz due to a low-pressure system in the Gulf of Tehuantepec.
Pichucalco-Tectuapan highway in Chiapas. Courtesy Rafael Camargo,
