Some people in the low-lying working-class neighbourhoods of Poza Rica heard the wall of water before they saw it. The loudest sound came from cars crashing together as they were swept along by the water that had escaped from the banks of the Cazones River, flooding the streets with more than 12 feet (4 meters) of water at dawn on Friday.

By Saturday, much of the water had receded. What was left behind was pure destruction and the sometimes head-scratching combinations that occur when nature collides with man-made structures—like cars hung in treetops and even a dead horse wedged inside the cabin of a pickup truck.

The death toll from landslides and floods caused by incessant rainfall in central and southeastern Mexico rose to 41 people on Saturday, authorities reported. This sharp increase came as thousands of soldiers cleared blocked roads to rescue those missing.

In Veracruz state, where Poza Rica is located, some 540 millimetres (more than 21 inches) of rain fell from October 6 to 9. Poza Rica, an oil town 170 miles (275 km) northeast of Mexico City, experienced little warning before the water arrived. Some neighbours said they sensed danger a couple of hours earlier and grabbed a few belongings before abandoning their homes.

Shadack Azuara, 27, came in search of his uncle around 3 a.m. on Friday. Getting no answer when he knocked, he assumed his uncle had already fled with others, so he returned home to prepare himself. On Saturday, having still heard nothing of his uncle—a retiree from oil services work who collected newspapers and bottles for recycling—Azuara found his uncle shirtless and facedown in the murky water surrounding his bed, apparently drowned. He spent hours calling authorities, trying to get someone to pick up the body.

“We thought he had gone, that he had evacuated with all of those who left,” Azuara said.

Mexico’s National Coordination of Civil Protection reported that as of Saturday, the heavy rains had killed 16 people in the state of Hidalgo, north of Mexico City, and cut power to 150 communities there. At least nine people died in the state of Puebla, east of Mexico City, where over 16,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.

In Veracruz, there were also 15 deaths. The army and navy were helping rescue residents from 42 communities isolated by landslides on roads and flooded streams. Authorities said they were searching for 27 missing people across the region.

As night fell in Poza Rica, heavy equipment rumbled through dark, muddy streets. There was no electricity and little presence from the National Guard or army, but locals did what they could to begin cleaning out their homes and businesses.

Across the Gulf Coast’s 55 municipalities, another 16,000 homes were damaged. Earlier, in the central state of Queretaro, a child died after being caught in a landslide.

Across the country, over 320,000 users experienced power outages caused by the heavy rains, authorities said.

Officials have attributed the deadly downpours to Tropical Storm Priscilla, formerly a hurricane, and Tropical Storm Raymond, both off the western coast of Mexico.

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