POZA RICA, Mexico — The death toll from last week’s torrential rains in east-central Mexico jumped to 64 Monday, as search operations expanded to communities cut off by landslides and residents in low-lying areas cleaned out flooded ground floors.
Another 65 people were missing following heavy rainfall in central and southeastern Mexico that caused rivers to top their banks, Civil Defense Coordinator Laura Velázquez Alzúa said Monday during the daily press briefing of President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The scale of the destruction across five states was coming into clearer focus a day after Sheinbaum visited affected communities in Puebla and Veracruz, promising a rapidly scaled up government response.
Mexico’s Civil Protection agency said the heavy rains had killed 29 people in Veracruz state on the Gulf Coast as of Monday morning, and 21 people in Hidalgo state, north of Mexico City. At least 13 people were killed in Puebla, east of Mexico City. Earlier, in the central state of Querétaro, a child died after being caught in a landslide.
Parts of Veracruz state received some 21 inches (54 centimeters) of rain last week between Monday Oct. 6 and Thursday, according to the federal government.
