Mexico’s president convenes governors as death toll from torrential rains rises to 44

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POZA RICA, Mexico (AP) — The death toll from Mexico’s torrential rains rose to 44 on Sunday as the fallout mounted from flooding and landslides across the country, prompting President Claudia Sheinbaum to convene governors from hard-hit states to direct an emergency response plan.

Mexico’s National Coordination of Civil Protection reported that as of Sunday, the heavy rains had killed 18 people in Veracruz state on the Gulf Coast and 16 people in Hidalgo state, north of Mexico City. At least nine people were killed in Puebla, east of Mexico City. Earlier, in the central state of Querétaro, a child died being caught in a landslide.

That toll could still rise as rescue workers continued to dig through sodden villages clogged with mud and debris on Sunday.

In Veracruz and Puebla, hundreds of army personnel, police officers and firefighters conducted rescue operations and set up temporary shelters where stranded residents could find food and medical attention. Thousands of residents across the country were still struggling with a lack of running water and electricity.

“There are still various communities in Veracruz that find themselves cut off that fortunately today they were able to establish air bridges to be able to take food, water and attend to any sick people,” Sheinbaum said on a visit to Veracruz Sunday. “We know that there is a lot of desperation and worry. We’re going to get to everyone.”

Parts of Veracruz state received some 21 inches (540 mm) of rain from Oct. 6 to 9.

In Poza Rica, an oil town 170 miles (275 kms) northeast of Mexico City, where Sheinbaum spoke with residents in muddy streets, some low-lying neighborhoods saw 12 feet of water or more when the Cazones River jumped its banks at dawn Friday.

Authorities have attributed the deadly downpours to Tropical Storm Priscilla, formerly a hurricane, and Tropical Storm Raymond, both off the western coast of Mexico.