Mexico floods kill at least 64, 65 missing as troops aid rescues

At least 64 people have died and 65 remain missing after days of torrential rains and resulting floods and landslides swept central and eastern Mexico last week, the government said on Monday, as thousands of soldiers and emergency crews raced to reach isolated communities and deliver aid. The disaster, concentrated in the Gulf coast and adjacent central states, overwhelmed rivers, destroyed roads and bridges, and flooded towns between Oct. 6 and Oct. 9, officials said.

Mexico’s Civil Protection agency and national emergency officials said Veracruz and Hidalgo were among the hardest hit. The agency reported 29 deaths in Veracruz, 21 in Hidalgo and at least 13 in Puebla, with one child killed in a landslide in Querétaro. Authorities described hundreds of communities cut off by mud and debris and said roughly 100,000 homes across the affected region have been damaged, with power outages affecting hundreds of thousands of users at the height of the emergency.

Around 10,000 troops from the army, navy and air force have been deployed alongside civilian rescue teams, using helicopters, boats, inflatable rafts and heavy equipment to clear blocked roads, evacuate stranded residents and...