The water chaos that reminded us that the city is a leaky ship
It seems that Mexico City was hit not by rain, but by all the accumulated anger of a hungover Poseidon. This past Sunday, September 14, the sky collapsed over the capital with an intensity that made us all reconsider whether, in fact, we live in a valley or at the bottom of a giant pool. Myriam Urzúa, the secretary of Comprehensive Risk Management and Civil Protection (SGIRPC), or in other words, the person whose turn it is to put out the fires—or in this case, drain the waters—gave the official report. And what a report it was.
The final balance: 125 homes and six commercial establishments affected. That is, 125 families who woke up to the unpleasant surprise that their living room had become a maintenance-free pool. But hey, it’s not all bad news. According to Urzúa, they have already been given support to remove the water and sanitize the areas with chlorine, because nothing says “fresh start” like the penetrating smell of bleach at 7 in the morning on a Monday.
Iztapalapa: the epicenter of the capital’s aquapocalypse
If CDMX was ground zero of this modern deluge, Iztapalapa was undoubtedly ground zero. Of the 50 reported flooding, 28—more than half!—were concentrated in this municipality. Secretary Urzúa, in a video message published by the Head of Government, Clara Brugada (yes, in X, because even crises are communicated through social networks now), detailed which were the hardest hit neighborhoods. Santa Marta Acatitla and its southern area, La Colmena, the Vicente Guerrero housing unit and Juan Escutia took the worst part. Basically, if you lived there, you’d better have a kayak or at least some good wellies.
The situation paints a surreal scenario: neighbors converted into spontaneous rescue teams, vans navigating what were previously streets and the eternal question of whether the deep drainage is an urban myth or was simply saturated with tiktoks. It’s the kind of chaos that brings the community together, even if it’s just passing buckets of water in a chain while cursing the clouds.
This event is nothing more than an uncomfortable—and wet—reminder of the vulnerability of a city that is slowly sinking as it deals with increasingly intense weather events. The infrastructure, put to the test once again, showed its limitations. But the response capacity also stood out, even if it was based on hoses, chlorine and a lot, a lot of patience. Risk management is not just a textbook concept; It is what prevents a downpour from becoming a major tragedy.
At the end of the day, the city will return to normal. The water will go away, the smell of chlorine will dissipate and the memes about sailing around Periférico by boat will be forgotten. Until the next rain. Because in CDMX, the water cycle is not a natural phenomenon, it is a series of events with their own scripts, dramatic and unpredictable.
Are you surprised by the magnitude of the effects?Share this note so that more people know what happened and how the emergency was responded to. And if you want to be prepared for the next time the skies decide to open up, explore more content on how the city is adapting to extreme weather.
