Illegal crossings into the United States from Mexico declined in June to their lowest monthly level in more than three years, according to preliminary U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data obtained by CBS News.

CBS reported that CBP processed approximately 84,000 migrants who crossed the Mexico-United States border without authorization in June. That’s the lowest number since January 2021, the month Biden took office.

The number of migrant apprehensions last month represents a 29% decrease compared to May, when CBP made 118,000 arrests.

Biden issued an executive order on June 4 that prevented migrants from making asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border at times when crossings between legal ports of entry surge.

The new asylum rule — described by the New York Times as “the most restrictive border policy instituted by Mr. Biden, or any other modern Democrat” — has allowed U.S. immigration officials “to more quickly deport larger numbers of migrants,” CBS reported.

However, migrant apprehensions were falling even before the new rule took effect. Border Patrol agents arrested 141,000 migrants in February; 137,000 in March; and 129,000 in April.

A major reason for the decline this year — after arrests reached a record monthly high of almost 250,000 last December — is that Mexican authorities have ramped up enforcement against undocumented migrants.

The National Immigration Institute recently said that almost 1.4 million undocumented foreigners were “rescued” and taken to detention centers or facilities operated by the DIF family services agency in the first five months of the year. In addition to sending migrants to detention centers, Mexican immigration authorities “round them up across the country and dump them in the southern Mexican cities of Villahermosa and Tapachula,” the Associated Press reported in June. 

Following a meeting with U.S. officials in December, Mexican authorities also increased efforts to stop migrants boarding northbound buses and trains.

CBS suggested that yet another factor in the decline in recent months of migrants crossing the Mexico-U.S. border is the increase in temperatures in spring and summer. Migrants often attempt to enter the U.S. in remote desert regions where the heat can be deadly.

However, Biden’s executive order — which includes exemptions for unaccompanied minors — is the main reason why migrant crossings fell again in June, unnamed senior U.S. officials told CBS news.

CBS reported that “in the past week, the average of daily migrant apprehensions fell below 2,000 — or nearly half of May’s 3,800 average, internal CBP data show.”

“That number is also close to the 1,500 threshold the Biden administration set to suspend the asylum restrictions,” it added.

Andrew Selee, president of the think tank Migration Policy Institute, acknowledged the downward trend in border crossings this year. However, he highlighted that the biggest month-over-month drop occurred in June.

“The numbers have been going down before the presidential announcement, but they went down a lot more afterwards, so I think you have to give some credit to that,” he said.

“We have to assume, if nothing else, that in the short term it has dissuaded some people,” Selee added.

Biden highlighted during last Thursday’s presidential debate in the U.S. that illegal border crossings had declined since he issued his executive order on June 4.

Former U.S. president Donald Trump described the reduction as “insignificant” and accused Biden of wanting “open borders.”

“He wants our country to either be destroyed or he wants to pick up those people as voters. And we just can’t let it happen,” Trump said.

With reports from CBS News 

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Sheinbaum, who will take office Oct. 1, and López Obrador traveled from the Edzná Station in Campeche to the Teya Station near Mérida, Yucatán, on Friday.

They boarded the Maya Train again on Saturday to travel from Teya to the Cancún Airport Station in Quintana Roo.

On Sunday, Sheinbaum took to social media to declare that the as-yet-incomplete railroad is “a historic feat.”

“It’s not just the more than 1,500 kilometers [of tracks] built in five years and the beauty of the trip. It’s the recovery of the archaeological sites, the decree of hundreds of thousands of hectares of Natural Protected Areas, the investment in the well-being of dozens of communities,” she wrote on X.

“… It’s also recognizing ourselves in the grandeur of the Maya culture of then and now. Congratulations to all the companies, engineers, workers and military engineers. What has been achieved is something amazing,” added Sheinbaum.

Environmental groups and others have criticized the project, which cut down large swathes of forest to build the tracks. In addition, steel and cement pilings pierced through the roofs of limestone caves along a section of the railroad in Quintana Roo. Experts said the perforations affected the quality of subterranean water and destroyed “archaeological and geological heritage.”

Environmentalists have expressed a range of other concerns about the construction and operation of the US $20 billion railroad, including the potential impact on wildlife.

López Obrador inaugurated construction of the railroad in June 2020, and pledged at the time to complete it in 28 months, or by October 2022. However, the project has faced a range of challenges, including court rulings that have temporarily halted work.

AMLO: Maya Train project will be finished in August or September 

Sections 1–4 of the 1,554-kilometer-long railroad — which link Palenque, Chiapas, to Cancún, Quintana Roo, via Tabasco, Campeche and Yucatán — are already open, as is the northern part of Section 5, which connects Cancún to Playa del Carmen.

Yet to open is the southern part of Section 5 between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, and Sections 6 and 7. The new track will link Tulum to Escárcega, Campeche, and include stations at Bacalar and Chetumal.

In an address on Friday President López Obrador and Sheinbaum inaugurated a new museum at the Edzná archaeological site. Afterward, the president said that the entire Maya Train railroad would open “at the end of August” or in “the middle of September.”

“We’re going to conclude the whole Cancún-Tulum-Chetumal-Calakmul-Escárcega circuit, we’re going to finish the 1,540 kilometers of tracks,” he said.

López Obrador said he was “very proud” of the progress on the project, perhaps his government’s most ambitious infrastructure endeavor. He said it provides improved access to a region of great cultural and historical importance.

“The Maya Train was conceived [as a means] to once again connect the ancient Maya cities,” he said.

“… There is no other region in the world like what the Maya nation was and continues to be. … There isn’t … such a large region where a great culture flourishes. There are [other] important places. There is Athens in Greece, of course, but here there are several ‘Athens’ in just the Maya world,” López Obrador said, mentioning archeological sites such as Palenque, Chichén Itzá and Calakmul.

The president has long argued that the construction and operation of the Maya Train railroad will bring economic and social benefits to Mexico’s historically disadvantaged south and southeast. Sheinbaum has expressed her agreement with that view.

Maya Train could be extended to the port of Progreso 

Sheinbaum told reporters in Yucatán on Saturday that her team and the current government were looking at the funding the Maya Train railroad will require in 2025 in order to consolidate the passenger service, and commence freight services.

She also said she was analyzing a proposal from Yucatán Governor-elect Joaquín Díaz to extend the Maya Train. Díaz hopes to connect the railroad to Progreso, a port city north of Mérida on the Gulf of Mexico.

Díaz, who will be the first Morena party governor of Yucatán, has a so-called “Maya Renaissance” economic plan for the state. The plan includes an extension of the Maya Train railroad to Progreso. Sheinbaum met with the incoming governor in Mérida on Friday.

With reports from El Universal, La Jornada, N+, EFE and Debate

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Xin Xin is the only giant panda in Latin America and the only one in the world that does not belong to China, as well as one of the oldest of her species. The life expectancy for giant pandas is about 15-20 years. 

“This celebration symbolizes the ambition of recovering and conserving threatened wildlife species and those in danger of extinction,” said Mexico City’s Environmental Ministry in a statement.

Xin Xin is the most popular resident of the 101-year-old zoo and visitors come from all around the world to watch her roam and play.

Visitors cluster in the viewing area waiting for Xin Xin to appear, although the waits have become longer as the aging panda now walks more gingerly, fumbles with her playthings less frequently and takes longer naps. 

Officials and caretakers at the zoo take great pride in Xin Xin. 

“It is very important to celebrate [her birthday] because it helps circulate the positive message that Mexico City’s Wildlife Conservation Centers — and Xin Xin, as wildlife ambassador — provide,” said Dr. Fernando Gual Sill, the director of the conservation center. “Visitors learn the importance of conservation, not just of wildlife like giant pandas, but also about Mexico’s native species and those that are threatened by extinction.”

The Chapultepec Zoo has had one of the most successful panda-breeding programs outside of China. Eight giant pandas have been conceived in the zoo since the first pandas — Pe Pe and Yin Yin — arrived in Mexico on Sept. 10, 1975.

Xin Xin, Latin America’s sole panda, celebrates 34th birthday in Mexicohttps://t.co/pkTwruLEbC

: Amaranta Atzin Marentes Orozco pic.twitter.com/zVHIidvOGe

— Anadolu Images (@anadoluimages) June 28, 2024

Xin Xin was conceived naturally and was born in the zoo on July 1, 1990. Her mother was Tohui, the second giant panda born in captivity outside of China and the first born overseas to survive into adulthood. Xin Xin’s father was Chia Chia who was on loan from the London Zoo for breeding purposes.

Some experts attribute the success of Mexico City’s breeding program to the high altitude, which at 7,300 feet (2,225 meters) is similar to the pandas’ native habitat in Sichuan, China.

With reports from El Universal, El Imparcial and Chilango

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A methane explosion at the Pasta de Conchos coal mine in Coahuila claimed the lives of 65 miners in February 2006. Only two bodies had been recovered until Friday, when additional remains were brought above ground.

Specialized rescue workers including National Guard personnel entered one of the chambers of the now-defunct mine late Friday afternoon and retrieved the remains of one miner.

The newspaper El Financiero reported that one “apparently complete” body was recovered.

As of Monday morning, authorities hadn’t released any official information about the recovery operation.

The remains were reportedly taken to a morgue in Saltillo, where DNA testing will seek to establish the identity of the victim. Family members of the deceased miners said it would take three weeks for a positive identification to occur.

Coahuila Attorney General Gerardo Márquez Guevara said that the Federal Attorney General’s Office would lead the efforts to identify the remains.

Relatives were present at the former Grupo México mine in the municipality of San Juan de Sabinas when the remains were recovered on Friday.

Martha Iglesias, daughter of deceased miner Guillermo Iglesias, told El Financiero that she and other family members saw the “complete skeleton” of one victim.

The recovery of the body came two weeks after the Interior Ministry (SEGOB) announced that human remains had been found in a mine chamber 146 meters underground.

“After more than 18 years since the terrible event, and four years since rescue work began on the instructions of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, it was possible to reach one of the places where records indicate 13 miners were working on the day of the accident,” SEGOB said in a statement on June 12.

Family members are hopeful that more bodies will be recovered in the near future.

Claudia Escobar, widow of Raúl Villasana, said it was “very moving” to see the remains of one of the victims brought above ground.

“It’s like a dream come true for us — a very difficult dream because it’s reopening a wound and everything we went through [after the miners were killed],” she said.

The federal government announced a “Justice Plan for Pasta de Conchos” earlier this month, and is already providing a range of assistance to the families of the victims.

Family members would like to see Grupo México held accountable for the Feb. 19, 2006 tragedy. The company, a conglomerate with interests in various sectors, is led by billionaire businessman Germán Larrea.

The Centro Prodh human rights organization has asserted that substandard security conditions at the Pasta de Conchos mine exacerbated the effects of the methane explosion.

It said that “security failures” were reported at the mine since 2000, and that in a “final inspection” carried out in July 2004, 43 “direct violations” of security and hygiene regulations were detected.

Forty-eight remedial measures were ordered, many of which were “extremely urgent,” Centro Prodh said.

“However, authorities failed to supervise the correction of the defects detected,” the NGO said.

Grupo México carried out a rescue operation after the accident, but was only able to recover the bodies of two miners. The company suspended its rescue efforts in April 2007, saying at the time that continuing the operation would place rescuers’ lives at risk.

Centro Prodh noted that the families of the victims asserted that “the reason for the suspension” of the rescue operation was that if the bodies were recovered, “the terrible work conditions in the mine would be revealed and this would result in criminal and economic penalties, and even the withdrawal of the company’s [mining] concessions.”

Almost one year after the accident, the widows of the miners won an injunction that gave them access to internal Grupo México documents, which revealed it had been operating the Pasta de Conchos mine under less than optimal safety conditions since at least 2000.

However, no company representatives, or government officials, were held legally responsible for the deaths of the 65 miners.

More recently, 10 miners died in an accident at the El Pinabete coal mine in Coahuila in 2022, and two miners were killed last year in an accident at another mine in the northern border state.

With reports from El Financiero, Milenio, Reforma and Radio Fórmula

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The trailer was stopped at a military checkpoint near the desert town of Samalayuca about 42 kilometers south of the United States border at Ciudad Juárez.

In a press bulletin released on Saturday, the INM said the truck was moving erratically, prompting soldiers to stop the vehicle. Upon inspection, the soldiers discovered that none of the truck’s 63 passengers had the proper immigration documents, requiring the presence of INM personnel. No information was provided on the immigration status of the driver or drivers of the vehicle.

The INM moved the immigrants to a nearby INM facility where they received medical attention. It is not known how long they had been traveling in these conditions.

The INM reports that among the 63 persons detained, 18 hailed from Guatemala, 23 were from Ecuador, six from El Salvador, five from Honduras and two were from the Dominican Republic. Three of the immigrants were categorized as unaccompanied minors, one each from El Salvador, Ecuador and Guatemala.

The adults were transported to the aforementioned INM facility, while three families traveling together were taken to a separate office that handles families and unaccompanied youth. The three unaccompanied children were sent to the INM’s housing center for young migrants in Ciudad Juárez.

The checkpoint at which the cargo truck was stopped is the final checkpoint before Ciudad Juárez, which has seen the number of arriving migrants surge in recent years. There, many are targeted by criminal groups who use kidnapping, torture and extortion to control and profit from the rising migrant population.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security carried out a joint operation with Mexican authorities to rescue 13 kidnapped migrants from a Ciudad Juárez stash house, where the captives “were beaten, tortured, sexually assaulted and extorted for additional smuggling fees by members of a transnational criminal organization.”

With reports from La Jornada, Forbes México and Vanguardia

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The third named tropical cyclone of the season, Chris made landfall with maximum sustained winds of 65 km/h and gusts of 85 km/h. The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression shortly after making landfall and is currently moving westward over mainland Mexico at 20 km/h.

Conoce las condiciones del tiempo que se prevén en #México, este lunes, 1 de julio, con el #VideoPronóstico del #SMNmx.

Reprodúcelo aquí pic.twitter.com/LJOO9Kb8z7

— CONAGUA Clima (@conagua_clima) July 1, 2024

As reported by the National Meteorological Service (SMN), Chris will move over the center and west of the country, causing rain in Puebla, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí and Querétaro. Mexico City will see light rainfall throughout the day. Meanwhile, torrential rains are expected in Tamaulipas and Oaxaca, and heavy to very heavy rains are expected in Nuevo León, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche and the Yucatán Peninsula. 

Waves ranging between two and four meters high are also expected throughout Monday morning on the coasts of Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Tabasco.

On Monday morning, heavy rains triggered the Actopan, Bobos and Nautla rivers to exceed their Ordinary Maximum Water Level (NAMO). As a result, authorities in Veracruz set up temporary shelters and carried out preventive evacuations in communities surrounding the riverbed.

The United States National Hurricane Center (NOAA) confirmed late Monday morning that Chris had dissipated and will continue to weaken throughout the day.

In the north, a low-pressure channel will cause scattered showers along the Baja California Peninsula. 

High temperatures will continue in Mexico’s north and northwestern states, with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius in areas of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua and Sinaloa. Northern Mexico may also see isolated storms accompanied by lightning, strong gusts of wind and hail. The SMN has warned that rainfall may lead to reduced visibility, landslides and flooding of rivers and streams.

The National Civil Protection Coordination has urged residents to stay in a safe place and avoid traveling through flooded streets. 

With reports from La Jornada, El Universal, El Universal, Diario de Xalapa, and Meteored

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The National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Conahcyt) heralded the decision as “a triumph for life, health and food sovereignty.”

Monsanto’s subsidiaries, Semillas y Agroproductos Monsanto and Monsanto Comercial, ratified their withdrawal on June 25.

Monsanto produces the herbicide Roundup, one of several glyphosate-based products that are used in the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMO) such as Roundup Ready corn, cotton and soybeans. A common genetic modification makes crops resistant to glyphosate, allowing farmers to apply large amounts of the weed-killer to GMO crops.

The legal battle was initiated in response to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s 2020 decree to ban the widely used but controversial herbicide, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified as a “probable carcinogen,” though its safety remains a subject of debate.

The battle included over 30 amparo (judicial protective order) suits aiming to declare the decree unconstitutional. In July 2022, for example, Bayer, which acquired Monsanto six years ago, obtained a court order against the application of the decree.

However, the majority of the cases concluded with rulings unfavorable to the corporations involved.

Conahcyt provided scientific and legal defenses, presenting more than 250 pieces of evidence to support the decree.

Judge Francisco Rebolledo Peña’s July 2022 ruling in favor of Monsanto was appealed by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), the Federal Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) and Conahcyt.

Citing human rights and environmental safety concerns, the appeal eventually led to Mexico’s Fourth Collegiate Court on Administrative Matters rejecting Monsanto’s arguments. Earlier this year, that same body slapped down an amparo brought by Walmart Mexico against the nation’s updated tobacco control law, which added promotional and advertising bans to the nationwide ban against smoking in public areas.

Monsanto’s retreat is not its first legal setback. The company has faced extensive litigation in the United States, paying billions in punitive damages and settlements linked to glyphosate’s carcinogenic risks.

Internal documents revealed during the trials in Mexico indicated that Monsanto was aware of glyphosate’s cancer risks and engaged in misleading scientific practices and discrediting independent researchers.

The 2020 decree was replaced by a 2023 decree, which reaffirmed the initial ban and introduced additional restrictions on GM corn.

That led to Mexico also facing anger from the United States, which was not happy over Mexico’s plan to ban the importation of GM corn for use in dough and tortillas by 2024, then gradually phase out imports of GM corn for any kind of human consumption and then for use as animal feed.

In 2023, the U.S. government announced it had requested the establishment of a dispute settlement panel to resolve the issue.

Monsanto also wanted to suspend the 2023 decree, and a few months ago, Mexico seemed to be giving in a bit when it postponed the glyphosate ban citing lack of available alternatives.

In shooting down Monsanto’s latest legal challenges, Judge Elizabeth Trejo Galán emphasized the precedence of public over private interest.

Conahcyt noted in a press release that it continues to support alternative agricultural practices and bioinputs, highlighting their effectiveness in various regions.

Noting that the legal victory over Monsanto underscores Mexico’s commitment to safeguarding public health and environmental integrity, Conahcyt vowed to continue its efforts to ensure that GM corn and glyphosate are removed from the Mexican food supply.

With reports from Regeneración, Reforma and Por Esto

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The announcement comes one month after Mayor-elect Clara Brugada unveiled her ambitious social housing program which she described as the broadest in Mexico City history.

For his part, Batres announced that the pilot program will start with 150 units and will target university students and young professionals. Each apartment will measure at least 40 square meters in size, will feature basic services and will be close to public transportation.

The program will be administered by the city’s Urban Development and Housing Ministry (Seduvi). Ínti Muñoz Santini, Seduvi director, said the initial apartments set aside for the program are located in the Doctores neighborhood, just east of the popular Roma neighborhood and south of the Centro Histórico.

Once approved by Seduvi, recipients of the apartments will receive a five-year lease with the option of a single two-year extension. Rents will range from 2,500 to 5,000 pesos/month (US $136 to $273), considerably lower than the 10,000 to 30,000 pesos (US $545 to $1,636) that rents can reach in the Roma neighborhood.

To participate in the program citizens:

• Must be between 18 and 29 years old
• Must have a job or be attending university
• Earn a salary no more than twice the minimum wage, or 591 pesos/day (US $32)
• Must not own property elsewhere

Batres, whose term ends on Oct. 5, did not say when the program would be launched though he expects it to be under way within a year.

Brugada announced her city-wide plan during the mayoral campaign to formalize and register deeds so as to provide juridical certainty to Mexico City homeowners, especially in low-income neighborhoods.

During a meeting with notaries public on May 20, Brugada said the goal is to regulate informal housing developments that have sprung up over the past several decades.  Brugada’s administration will begin by carrying out a survey to evaluate the situation with regard to deeds and the registration of buildings and homes across the entire city.

The Ninth Notary Services Survey found that in 2022, only 51% of Mexico City property owners had a deed to their home. 

With reports from El Financiero, Expansión, Via Tres, El Economista and ContraRéplica

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Lingering drought and extreme heat prompted pundits to proclaim June 26 as potential Day Zero —  when Mexico City’s reservoirs would be so reduced that the complex interbasin transfer could stop functioning, leaving Mexico’s capital without water.

Though the projection was overwrought — the Cutzamala supplies only 28% of Mexico City’s water — the shrinking water supply in the system’s seven reservoirs is a legitimate concern.

It was hoped that rain from Tropical Storm Alberto — which slammed into Mexico’s east coast on June 19 and greatly replenished some of northern Mexico’s drastically depleted reservoirs — would replenish the Cutzamala’s reservoirs somewhat. However, accumulated rainfall in greater Mexico City from Alberto was negligible.

The Mexican National Meteorological Service (SMN) forecast heavy rains across the nation this week, but as the newspaper El Financiero reported on Wednesday, Mexico City’s three main reservoirs remain at critically low levels. 

Those three reservoirs — in México state’s Valle de Bravo and Villa Victoria and in El Bosque, Michoacán, — are currently at an average 26.18% capacity, a slight increase over their 26.09% average level before Alberto. However, these numbers represent historic lows for Mexico City’s nearly 50-year-old reservoir system.

To give an idea of how drought and heat have impacted the system, the reservoir levels’ average capacity was 39.5% in January.

Recognizing the dire situation, the National Water Commission (Conagua) reduced the flow in the Cutzamala from 8 cubic meters/second to 6 cubic meters/second last Friday. Twelve of Mexico City’s 16 boroughs and 14 municipalities in neighboring México state are serviced by the Cutzamala system.

Conagua said the reduction is necessary to guarantee water over the medium-term because if water in the reservoirs dips below a certain point, the pumps that send the water up 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) to Mexico City will no longer function.

While rain in greater Mexico City has mildly mitigated the Valley of Mexico’s drought conditions, the reservoirs remain in need of replenishment. 

Conagua forecast heavy rains across the country this week, and a tropical disturbance tracking across the Caribbean has a 30% chance of becoming a tropical storm, but it remains to be seen if that weather system — heading toward Chetumal, Quintana Roo — will provide any rain to the Mexico City area.

Although Mexico City’s rainy season is expected to last into September, several studies suggest a genuine Day Zero for the Cutzamala is a real possibility.

A joint investigation conducted by the United Nations and the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City (UAM) projected that a genuine Day Zero is possible in 2028. 

The Instituto Belisario Domínguez (IBD) — a state-funded research institute — wrote a report indicating that Day Zero talk should go beyond setting a date and instead prompt a discussion about creating a sustainable reservoir system for Mexico City.

The IBD proposed promoting a culture of respect for water (especially via water capture), investing in infrastructure and establishing penalties for wasting water.

With reports from Infobae, El Financiero and Expansión

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The tropical system could turn into a depression or a tropical storm this weekend as it reaches the southern Caribbean, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC). Its path could then continue directly toward southeastern Mexico. 

As of Thursday afternoon Mexico City time, the tropical system was located about 5,700 kilometers east of the Quintana Roo coast and was moving west at 24 to 32 km/h.

Mexico’s National Meteorological Service (SMN) gave the developing storm “a 60% probability of developing into a cyclone within 48 hours, and 80% [of doing so] within seven days.”

If that happens, the cyclone would be called Beryl, the second named storm of what’s expected to be a busy Atlantic storm season. Experts are saying that the season could see as many as 25 named tropical cyclones this year, 11 more than the seasonal average of 14. 

Of that 25, between eight and 13 could turn into hurricanes.

The season’s first named storm — Tropical Storm Alberto — made landfall in the northeast state of Tamaulipas last Thursday. Although it quickly weakened into a tropical depression, Alberto’s wrath was felt over much of Mexico and southern Texas, with four deaths in Mexico being attributed to associated rains.

The Yucatán Peninsula felt some early effects from Alberto’s outer bands as it moved northwesterly. A different storm system then ravaged the peninsula over the next couple of days, causing extensive flooding and power outages. Parts of Mérida, the Yucatán state capital, were underwater as recently as Tuesday.

#Entérate Pirmero fue #Chetumal ahora así amaneció el paraíso #Cancún Calles y avenidas inundadas por las lluvias. pic.twitter.com/mj4Zn8plUf

— QuintanaRooNews (@quintanaroonews) June 18, 2024

Even before Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall in Mexico, Cancún’s streets were already experiencing flooding from rains associated with the storm.

Now a similar, smaller low-pressure system — different from the one currently located 5,700 km east of the Quintana Roo coast — that is associated with a tropical wave, is approaching Quintana Roo, bringing with it “widespread but disorganized shower and thunderstorm activity,” according to the NHC.

As of Thursday afternoon, the smaller system was much closer to the Yucatan, currently passing over the western Caribbean Sea, approximately 575 kilometers southeast of Chetumal, Quintana Roo. Its probability of developing into a cyclone was tabbed at 30% or less, but it is likely to bring intense rain to an already soaked area.

Already on Thursday morning and afternoon, there was scattered rain and showers, along with occasional thunderstorms and heavy fog in the south and southeast of Mexico. This area includes the Yucatán Peninsula, but similar conditions were expected up through Puebla and Mexico City and as far north as Querétaro.

Conagua also was predicting wind gusts of 30 to 50 km/h in Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, and lightning had been observed from Veracruz to Zacatecas to southern Baja California Sur.

The Riviera Maya News used the word “historic” to describe the recent torrential rains in Quintana Roo, noting that the state capital of Chetumal accumulated 518 mm in one seven-day period — the most rain it had seen in 72 years, according to Conagua director Érika Ramírez Méndez.

The paper also noted that “nearly every municipality [in Quintana Roo] experienced flooding, many more than once.” Many streets and homes were “under meters of water,” the paper added.

Jesús Almaguer Salazar, president of the Hotel Association of Cancún, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres, said that tourist properties took an economic hit, mainly due to many employees not being able to report for work. He said the hotels have been accommodating, but the employee absences have hurt.

Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama reported that 1,100 people affected by the storm had registered for assistance in Chetumal and Bacalar. Some suffered flood damage to their homes, and others were affected by blockades that were set up due to rising water levels.

She said the response included the allocation of 37 million pesos (US $2 million), which includes 18 million pesos for the delivery of household goods, 5.5 million pesos for repairs and 2 million pesos for small businesses.

The governor also said there was no impact on tourism and that all the airports in the state remained open. Even on Holbox Island, she added, tourist activity retained “normality” despite the need to use bilge pumps to drain the rising waters on the island.

With reports from CNN Español, Riviera Maya News and El Economista

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