{"id":225520,"date":"2025-10-15T02:57:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T02:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/225520\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T02:57:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T02:57:16","slug":"dozens-dead-missing-thousands-of-homes-destroyed-after-rains-sweep-across-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/225520\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens dead, missing, thousands of homes destroyed after rains sweep across Mexico\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Miguel Angel Villegas Escobar says more than a dozen people have been killed in his region, which remains cut off from the rest of the Mexican state of Hidalgo, after torrential rains, overflowing rivers and mud washed out the area\u2019s bridges and roads.<\/p>\n

Villegas Escobar, regional director of primary education in the village of Chahuaco, in the landlocked state of Hidalgo, said over WhatsApp voice messages that whole families in the region had been swept away by widespread flooding caused by rains that fell over four days last week across five Gulf Coast and central states.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said he knows 15 people in the municipality of Tianguistengo \u2014 which includes several villages like Chahuaco \u2014 who\u2019ve been killed in the flooding and buried by mud.<\/p>\n

There are still two people missing from the neighbouring village of Tlacolula, which is also part of Tianguistengo and had been hit the hardest, Villegas Escobar said. The majority of the village\u2019s houses have been wiped out, he said in voice messages from Chahuaco, which sits about 250 kilometres northeast of Mexico City.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Villegas Escobar said people in Chahuaco have taken old trails, packing supplies on pack animals and horses to bring aid to the residents of Tlacolula. \u201cWe have gone there to help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"AMiguel Angel Villegas Escobar is regional director of primary education in the village of Chahuaco, in the landlocked Mexican state of Hidalgo. (Submitted by Miguel Angel Villegas Escobar)Dozens dead, thousands of homes damaged<\/p>\n

The storms left 64 people dead and 65 missing, according to data released by Mexican authorities at a press conference on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Heavy rain fell between Oct. 6 and Oct. 9, causing rivers, gullies and ditches to overflow, knocking out power, triggering landslides and washing out highways and roads across the states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, Puebla, Quer\u00e9taro and San Luis Potosi. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government, the state and municipal governments, have been present helping the affected populations,\u201d said Laura Vel\u00e1zquez, national co-ordinator for the federal civil protection agency, who released the figures during the press conference.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd34 El r\u00edo Chiquito cambi\u00f3 su cauce en Chapultepec de Huauchinango, Puebla.
El agua arrastr\u00f3 una casa, un \u00e1rbol y basura, provocando nuevos desbordamientos.pic.twitter.com\/Fa47ucIO72<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014azucenau<\/a><\/p>\n

The states of Veracruz, Hidalgo and Puebla faced the brunt of the devastation, accounting for 56 people dead and more than 100 communities impacted, according to government figures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Images circulating over social media and local news reports showed streets turned to rivers of water and mud, people crowding on the roofs of homes and roads washed out by landslides. There was a report in the local media that at least one police officer drowned while attempting a rescue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The administration of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and the governors of the three main impacted states, who are all part of the governing National Regeneration Movement party (Morena), have faced criticism from opposition politicians and the public over what’s seen as a slow response and failure to issue alerts or preventive evacuations, according to local media reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Monday morning, a group of residents held a quiet protest by the National Palace in Mexico City\u2019s historic centre, holding signs asking the president to help the people of Texcatepec, Veracruz, according to a report in CMX Noticias.<\/a><\/p>\n

Sheinbaum told the press conference that the government\u2019s preliminary figures showed that more than 100,000 homes had been damaged or destroyed by the rains.<\/p>\n

She said that an airbridge, with helicopters, was now aiding about 60 communities in Veracruz, Hidalgo and Puebla that had been left stranded due to road and highway washouts. Some of these communities have small populations of about 1,000 people, Sheinbaum said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst we are opening federal highways \u2026 then we entered into state [highways],\u201d she said. \u201cFrom the beginning, we determined this to be the most urgent to get to these locations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AMexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, centre left, speaks to residents using a megaphone during a visit to La Ceiba, Puebla, on Sunday, while surveying devastation left by days of rain last week. (X @Claudiashein)<\/p>\n

Sheinbaum said she felt the frustration from residents reeling from the devastation caused by the heavy rains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The president faced questions over \u00a0a video that surfaced on Sunday showing frustrated citizens <\/a>\u00a0in Poza Rica, Veracruz, confronting her while she toured the devastation, claiming that several university students were missing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got down, personally from the vehicle, to listen to the people, and they told us they needed more help, more equipment … and support for the families,\u201d Sheinbaum said during the press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI explained to them that more help was coming, … that no family would be left helpless.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Authorities were watching Pacific coast systems<\/p>\n

The strength of the rains appeared to take authorities by surprise.<\/p>\n

Raymundo Pedro Morales \u00c1ngeles, the secretary of the navy, said authorities early last week were monitoring a potential tropical cyclone called Raymond and a hurricane called Priscilla that were developing off the country\u2019s Pacific coast.<\/p>\n

But at the same time, a low-pressure system, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Veracruz on Oct. 8, ended up colliding with a cold front coming down from Texas and caused the sudden burst of rains, Morales \u00c1ngeles said.<\/p>\n

\"AThe village of Tlacolula, which is also part of Tianguistengo, has been hit hard by flooding. (Submitted by Miguel Angel Villegas Escobar)<\/p>\n

The region\u2019s rainy season was at its end, the rivers and water tables were at their limit and the hillsides were already weakened by previous rains, creating the conditions for massive flooding, Morales \u00c1ngeles said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no scientific condition, meteorologically, that could have told us that the rains would be of this magnitude,\u201d Sheinbaum said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The municipality of Tianguistengo was listed by the Mexican government as a priority area.<\/p>\n

Villegas Escobar said the military had made contact with the region with two helicopters and that it was beginning the work of rebuilding roads and bridges.<\/p>\n

WATCH | School in the Mexican village of Tlacolula destroyed by rains :\"\"<\/p>\n

A plea for help amid flooding destruction <\/p>\n

Miguel Angel Villegas Escobar, regional director of primary education in the village of Chahuaco, describes the destruction to the school in the village of Tlacolula.<\/p>\n

In a video shared with CBC News, Villegas Escobar called on Hidalgo Gov. Julio Ram\u00f3n Menchaca Salazar, local deputies and senators to come to the aid of Tlacolula.<\/p>\n

In the video, he shows the village\u2019s primary school, which is now a mangled wreck of mud, brick and tree trunks, in a scene reminiscent of the aftermath of a tsunami.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people need a lot of help here in Tlacolula,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

IN PHOTOS | Aftermath of Mexico’s heavy rains and flooding: <\/p>\n