Heavy rains in Mexico leave nearly 30 dead

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Heavy rainfall in Mexico has left at least 27 people dead and more missing, authorities said on Friday, as downpours triggered several landslides, cut off power in some municipalities and caused rivers to burst their banks.

Civil protection authorities in Hidalgo state reported 16 deaths and said at least 1,000 homes and hundreds of schools had been affected.

Puebla state Governor Alejandro Armenta said at least nine people had died due to incidents such as landslides and another five had been reported missing. Authorities reported two more deaths in Veracruz state.

“We are working to support the population, open roads and restore electrical services,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a post on X. She shared photos of emergency responders carrying supplies as they waded knee-deep in flooded streets.

A video from the Navy showed an officer searching for stranded people as he advanced down a street neck-deep in water in Poza Rica, where heavy rains and the flooding of the Cazones river brought much of Veracruz town under water.

The ministry of defense said it had deployed over 5,400 personnel to help monitor, evacuate and clean up affected areas.

Meanwhile, storms Raymond and Priscilla have been dumping rains on the Baja California peninsula and the country’s western Pacific seaboard.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Díaz; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Raju Gopalakrishnan)