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At least 41 people have died in flooding and landslides caused by several days of torrential rain in central and southeastern Mexico, officials said Saturday.
The death toll rose as thousands of soldiers scoured the destruction left in the wake of receding waters, clearing roads blocked by trees and cars to rescue missing people.
In Poza Rica, an oil town 170 miles northeast of Mexico City, residents told The Associated Press they heard a wall of water and the sound of cars hitting each other before seeing streets filled with more than 12 feet of water on Friday.
Not everyone was able to get out in time.
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Neighbors gather around a damaged house after heavy rains in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)
Shadaq Azuara, 27, said he went to his uncle’s house at 3 a.m. on Friday, before the flood, but no one answered when he knocked. He returned on Saturday to find his uncle shirtless and face down in dirty water around his bed, apparently drowned.
“We thought he was gone, he was gone with all the other people who were gone,” Azuara said.
A woman walks past a bus station damaged after heavy rains in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)
Mexico’s National Civil Protection Coordination said Saturday that heavy rains killed 16 people and cut power to 150 communities in Hidalgo state, north of Mexico City.
Neighbors walk past a damaged bus station after heavy rains in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)
At least nine people were killed and more than 16,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in Puebla state, east of Mexico City.
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There were also 15 deaths in Veracruz state, where the army and navy mounted rescue operations for residents of dozens of communities left isolated after landslides and swollen streams blocked them.
People loot a supermarket damaged by heavy rains in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)
Authorities said they were searching for 27 missing people across the region, and that 16,000 homes were damaged in 55 municipalities of the Gulf Coast state.
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Earlier, a child had died after being trapped in a landslide in the central state of Querétaro.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
