The death toll from heavy flooding across much of Mexico rose to 130 on Tuesday, while authorities warned that more heavy rains could soak areas that have already suffered some of the worst storm damage in decades.
Mexican Minister of the Interior Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said in a radio interview that more bodies had been recovered from a devastating mudslide that buried 40 homes in the mountain village of La Pintada in southern Guerrero state.
Osorio Chong and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto oversaw recovery efforts in La Pintada, where dozens are still feared missing under the mud.
Photo: AFP
Pena Nieto said over the weekend there was little hope that anyone had survived the village mudslide. Guerrero, home to the battered Pacific resort of Acapulco as well as some of the country’s poorest rural communities, has seen the worst damage after Tropical Storm Ingrid and Hurricane Manuel last week drenched the country with torrential rains.
Mexico’s meteorological service warned later on Tuesday that a new low pressure zone would bring more moderate to heavy rains to Guerrero and states where dams are already swollen to capacity and rivers are spilling over their banks.
Pena Nieto said on Sunday that Mexico’s Congress will revise its proposed budget for next year to allow for more disaster spending beyond the roughly 12 billion pesos (US$938.91 million) available in emergency funding.
The government put off providing a preliminary report of the country’s damaged infrastructure on Tuesday.
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