Rescuers search for missing in Mexico’s flooded towns

Rescue workers in Mexico are searching for at least 38 people who are missing after torrential rains triggered flooding in 150 locations across five states.

At least 47 residents are confirmed dead, according to official figures released late on Sunday.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has promised help for the affected areas.

The heavy rains, caused by two tropical storms, triggered landslides and caused rivers to overflow, sweeping away entire homes as well as roads and cars.

María Salas, 49, lost five members of her family when their home collapsed in Huauchinango, a town in the mountains in the north of Puebla state.

She told Agence France Press news agency that her own house had been swept away by a landslide: “I can’t get my belongings, I can’t sleep there. I have nothing.”

The town is one of the few which is accessible within the disaster zone.

On Sunday, President Sheinbaum visited a shelter in Huauchinango and said that officials would inspect the damage the town suffered.

“Everyone will get help to rebuild their homes,” she told those whose houses had been swept away or made uninhabitable.

An estimated 100 small communities remain cut off as the flooding has damaged power supplies and communication lines.