As the city authorities reported, as a result of heavy rain, the water rose rapidly in the center of Tula (about 100 km north of Mexico City – AP), and by 6 in the morning the General Hospital was drained. The water cut off the city’s electricity and damaged hospital generators.
A video posted on social media reported that about 40 patients survived. The video shows individuals wading up to their knees in the water, trying to get patients to ambulances and boats.
Hospital director Zoe Robledo said the hospital took care of 56 patients, about half of whom had COVID-19.
Rescue teams made up of firefighters and soldiers steered boats through the streets of Tula to rescue people from flooded homes.
The main town square was completely flooded. In one place on the banks of the river was a tangle of trailers, buses, tanks, and cars stuck on top of each other, half submerged by the flowing water.
“Today, saving lives is the most important thing,” Tula Mayor Manuel Hernandez Padillo said at a press conference.
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