The rains caused severe flooding in different parts of Xalapa.
© Isabel ZamudioThe rains caused severe flooding in different parts of Xalapa.
After heavy overnight rains, several areas of the Valley of Mexico were flooded Thursday, prompting protests from affected residents who say that the situation keeps happening.

The Valley of Mexico, a region that includes Mexico City and the states of Mexico, Hidalgo, and Tlaxcala, accumulated large amounts of water, causing roadblocks, and flooding of the subway network, businesses and private homes, a situation also experienced in areas of states such as Jalisco and Veracruz.

The capital and the state of Mexico were most affected by the red alert due put in place.

The east of Mexico City and the neighboring area of the state of Mexico required urgent action from the authorities, and water system officials attended various areas to try to deal with the floods, which persisted Thursday afternoon.


The most affected municipalities were Ixtapaluca and Los Reyes La Paz, and within the capital, Tlalpan and Iztapalapa, while parts of the Mexico-Puebla highway was cut off due to floods.

The residents of Ixtapaluca are often affected by flooding and accuse the authorities of not maintaining the drainage systems, saying officials suck up the floodwaters with pumps, but do not focus on the root of the problem.

"Whenever there is heavy rain, it happens," said Bruno Melchor, who lives in the Alfredo del Mazo neighborhood, a lower area of ??Ixtapaluca where the surrounding waters reach.

He said the pumps run for a few days and they stop working and no one does anything to fix them.

"I imagine it is because the drainage system is clogged."

Another neighbor, Saray Pineda, said that the same thing happened three years ago and also eight years ago, because the water has no way to drain and ends up in the houses of the residents.

For the inhabitants of the very popular area, every flood means starting from scratch as they do not usually receive much help from the authorities, despite the losses in terms of furniture, documents, appliances and clothing.

"There is nothing left but to start over. You feel anguished when you start drawing the water and you see your lost things... We don't live with luxury and we have to start over, all because of the bad conditions," Pineda said.

For Thursday, the meteorological authoritiespredict torrential rains in nine areas of the country: Chiapas, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas and Veracruz, some of which have suffered heavy rainfall for several days.