Mexico in flood recovery efforts in Puebla state

Regions of Mexico's Puebla state hit badly by tropical storm Earl will receive a flood recovery package from water authority Conagua. The funds will be used to reestablish access to potable water as well as to clean up affected rivers, said Conagua director Roberto Ramírez.

On a visit to the affected areas, Ramírez said around 100,000 people from 47 communities in eight municipalities were affected, 30,000 of whom already have access to potable water and that the rest will get access to the service again in no longer than one month, local press reported.

Conagua said in a press release that dredging, leveling and cleaning works have already been performed in the Ayaguanco river to reduce flooding risks and protect the over 2,000 people living in neighboring communities. These works required 12mn pesos (US$654,900), which came from Mexico's natural disasters fund, the agency said.

"Water will continue being distributed through water-treatment plants and tanker trunks that were brought to the affected communities," added Ramírez.

Addressing criticism from locals who accused the Puebla state government of not warning the population earlier, Ramírez said Earl's impact could not have been predicted. "Earl went first through Campeche, Tabasco, Veracruz and then to Puebla. You imagine what it's like to evacuate people in four states within 24 hours. It's a very complicated situation," local newspaper Cambio reported him as saying.

Tropical storm Earl hit Mexico's central-western states in early August, killing over 50 people and causing millions of pesos in damage.