Mexico experiencing worst drought in 70 years, gov't says

Mexico City – Mexico is suffering its worst drought in the past 70 years, a dearth of rainfall that has forced the government to supply water to nearly 2.5 million people, the Social Development Secretariat said.

The natural disaster is mainly affecting the northern states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Guanajuato and Zacatecas.

Social Development Secretary Heriberto Felix Guerra, whose department is coordinating efforts to mitigate the drought, the most severe to hit Mexico since 1941, said it was "caused in large part by the climate change affecting the entire planet."

The secretariat has implemented an emergency water plan, bringing 700 tanks with 10,000 liters of water to "the most remote and vulnerable communities," Felix Guerra said.

All told, water has been distributed via 4,000 tankers to 1,500 communities across 12 Mexican states, benefiting 2.5 million people, the secretariat said.

"Human beings come first. We must deliver all the assistance we can to people, who are the focus of our social policy," Felix Guerra said. EFE