Mexico Flood Disaster: Death Toll Climbs to 64 as Search Efforts Widen Across Isolated Communities

The death toll from Mexico’s devastating torrential rains has surged to 64, with rescue teams racing against time to reach dozens of communities still cut off by floods and landslides.

Civil Defense Coordinator Laura Velázquez Alzúa confirmed on Monday that 65 people remain missing following days of relentless downpours across central and southeastern Mexico. The rains have triggered catastrophic flooding, forcing rivers to overflow and submerging entire neighborhoods.

President Claudia Sheinbaum, addressing the nation during her daily briefing, assured citizens that emergency operations would continue at full strength.

“There are sufficient resources — this won’t be skimped on — because we’re still in the emergency period,” she said.

More than 100,000 homes have been damaged, with several near riverbanks “practically disappearing,” according to early government estimates. Thousands of soldiers have been deployed to assist in rescue and relief efforts, though access to at least 80 communities in northern Veracruz remains blocked by washed-out roads.

Sheinbaum noted that airlifts are being used to deliver food and water to the most remote areas. “A lot of flights are required to take sufficient food and water to those places,” she said.

The Gulf Coast state of Veracruz has been the hardest hit, with 29 confirmed deaths. Hidalgo has reported 21 fatalities, Puebla 13, and Querétaro one.

In Poza Rica, an oil-producing city northeast of Mexico City, residents described scenes of chaos as floodwaters surged through streets before dawn on Friday. Many fled with only the clothes on their backs as the Cazones River burst its banks, sending a torrent of water more than four meters high through low-lying neighborhoods.

Survivors recalled hearing a deafening roar as the flood swept away vehicles. “The loudest sound was from the cars crashing together as they were carried by the current,” said one resident.

With vast areas still underwater and rescue teams expanding their search zones, Mexico faces a long road to recovery from one of its deadliest natural disasters in recent years.