Chiapas Floods Kill Three, Destroy Dozens Of Homes As Rivers Overflow After Storm

Tapachula, Mexico— Three people were killed Saturday when flash floods and mudslides slammed into hillside communities in Chiapas after more than 12 hours of unrelenting rain, burying homes under mud and forcing hundreds to flee in the dark. Rivers rose two meters in three hours.

The worst hit was the municipality of Motozintla, near the Guatemala border. At around 3:10 a.m., a slope behind the village of Belisario Domínguez gave way. Mud, rocks, and uprooted trees crashed into six houses. Two children and their mother died inside. Neighbors dug with their hands until Civil Protection arrived with shovels and a single backhoe.

Chiapas’ Civil Protection chief said the state received 180 millimeters of rain overnight, double the forecast. Three rivers overflowed: the Xelaju, the Huixtla, and the Cahoacán. In Tapachula, water entered the first floors of homes in 12 neighborhoods. In Siltepec, a bridge collapsed, cutting off 2,000 residents.

“We heard a roar. The hill moved,” said a farmer who lost his home. He was sleeping with his wife when the wall cracked. “We ran. No time to take anything.” He stood in a shelter wearing borrowed clothes. His chickens were gone. His cornfield was under silt.

The state government opened 18 temporary shelters. As of noon Saturday, 420 people were inside. Many more refused to leave, fearing looters. A shelter coordinator in Motozintla said they lacked blankets and drinking water. “The trucks can’t get through. The road is mud,” she said.

Officials blamed deforestation and informal construction on unstable slopes. It is an old warning. It is ignored every year. The same villages were hit in 2020 and 2022. Mitigation walls were promised. They were never built. A local engineer who inspected the slide said the soil was saturated and heavy. No drainage existed.

Excelsior data shows Chiapas has recorded 22 flood-related deaths this rainy season. The National Water Commission said more rain is expected Sunday. A red alert remains for eight municipalities.

Power is out in four communities. Cell signal is weak. Rescue crews are working with machetes to clear paths. They have not reached two hamlets above Motozintla.

The search for one missing man continues. The rain has not stopped.