Mexico's president convenes governors as death toll from torrential rains rises to 44

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — The death toll from Mexico's torrential rains increased to 44 on Sunday as the fallout mounted from flooding and landslides across the country, prompting President Claudia Sheinbaum to convene governors from hard-hit states to direct an emergency response plan.

Mexico’s National Coordination of Civil Protection reported that as of Sunday, the heavy rains had killed 18 people in Veracruz state on the Gulf Coast and 16 people in Hidalgo state, north of Mexico City. At least nine people were killed in Puebla, east of Mexico City. Earlier, in the central state of Querétaro, a child died being caught in a landslide.

That toll could still rise as rescue workers continued to dig through sodden villages clogged with mud and debris on Sunday.

In Veracruz and Puebla, hundreds of army personnel, police officers and firefighters conducted rescue operations and set up temporary shelters where stranded residents could find food and medical attention. Thousands of residents across the country were still struggling with a lack of running water and electricity.

“We will not leave anyone helpless,” President Sheinbaum wrote on social media. On Sunday, surveying authorities' aid distribution in the hard-hit Huauchinango municipality in Puebla, Sheinbaum said that Sunday's improved weather offered a chance to reach communities still entirely isolated.

Authorities have attributed the deadly downpours to Tropical Storm Priscilla, formerly a hurricane, and Tropical Storm Raymond, both off the western coast of Mexico.