The test of any government occurs in the crisis. And climate change has become a real threat to food security and social and economic stability, which is forcing governments to make complex decisions about the spending and distribution of public resources, in the face of extreme weather events such as floods, earthquakes, droughts or rising ocean levels.
The torrential rains recorded in Hidalgo, Puebla, Querétaro, Veracruz and San Luis Potosí are, unfortunately, a reminder that the impacts of climate change have become a reality in Mexico. And science warns us that these consequences will become increasingly intense and frequent.
The tours made by President Sheinbaum in the affected areas remain for posterity, among residents who demand immediate solutions and a leader who is not afraid of receiving harsh complaints from the people.
Even the British news agency BBC News highlights the strength of the federal government’s response with human and material resources and coordination with local authorities, in the face of the violence of the natural emergency.
The President of the Republic heads the National Emergency Committee (CNE) together with the governors of Veracruz, Hidalgo, Puebla, Querétaro and San Luis Potosí, as well as representatives of federal government agencies, such as the National Water Commission (Conagua), as well as the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), the Secretariat of the Navy (Semar), and the National Guard, among other bodies. This intergovernmental coordination is key in the face of this and any other type of national emergency, with the president being a leader with the legitimacy and credible strength to coordinate and supervise this effort of the Mexican State.
Another relevant aspect in the face of this crisis is the ability to assertively communicate the work that is being carried out. The federal government has reported official figures on deaths and missing persons, and has already conducted a census of more than 4,000 homes in the five affected states. However, it is also true that the communication challenge is magnified by the spread of fake news or inaccurate information; or, the death of lives that clouds the significant deployment of human and material resources in the disaster zone.
In one of the morning conferences “Las mañaneras del pueblo”, President Sheinbaum mentioned that as part of the protocols for emergency care there will, in due course, be communication with the scientific community to find out about the “best… alerting mechanisms.”
The latter takes on fundamental relevance in the short term in terms of the way in which the country intends to face, more efficiently, emergencies due to natural disasters. On the part of the citizens, rapid action is expected not only from their authorities to resolve their needs once the mishaps have already occurred, but we are seeing a growing demand from the population to be alerted more quickly.
Let us remember that not long ago, the country faced another emergency with Hurricane Otis that made landfall in October 2023 in Guerrero and severely affected Acapulco and Coyuca de Benítez, an experience that revealed areas of opportunity for the Emergency Response Program for Natural Hazards, which replaced the FONDEN (Natural Disaster Fund) in 2020, along with other trusts.
Both events, that of 2023 and now those of 2025, show that more technology with advanced alert systems and building greater resilience capacities are lessons on which President Sheinbaum has the opportunity to turn these painful events into a starting point for more effective risk management in Mexico.
About the author:
Palmira Tapia has a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Oxford and a degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE).
Twitter: @palmiratapia
The opinions expressed are solely the responsibility of their authors and are completely independent of the position and editorial line of Forbes Mexico.
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