Muddy Floodwater Turns Mexican Highway Into River as Cold Front Drenches Monterrey Area

Fast-flowing muddy water covered the Carretera Nacional highway south of Monterrey in northern Mexico on Friday morning, October 16, as heavy rain from the season’s second cold front flooded roads across the state of Nuevo León.

The footage, filmed by Yari Edebaldo from the back seat of a car on the stretch between El Barrial and Los Cavazos in the municipality of Santiago, shows a steady current of brown water rushing across the road and the parking lots of roadside gas stations and convenience stores. Cars and a truck splash slowly ahead through the flood as rain streams down the windows and the mountains disappear into low cloud. “I’m going to tell him that right now there’s no way through,” a woman in the car says.

Rain from Cold Front No. 2 fell through the early hours and the morning across the Monterrey metropolitan area, leaving flooded streets, stranded vehicles and damage to city infrastructure. State Civil Protection said at least seven people were rescued after getting stuck in their vehicles, and 52 vehicles were reported stranded. In Ciudad Solidaridad, garbage truck workers pulled a man to safety with a rope as he sat on the hood of his car, which was then swept away by the current. Several streams were running at up to 90% of capacity, and a pickup truck overturned into a drainage channel on the Carretera Nacional at Los Alvarado.

Santiago authorities closed the underground U-turns at El Barro, El Barrial and Las Misiones as a precaution. It was the second time this month that the same stretch of highway went under water. On October 2, storms flooded all lanes at several points in Los Cavazos, swept away at least five cars and forced rescuers to pull two elderly people from their car in El Barrial. “The rain continues light to moderate, easing toward midday, though there could be a period of heavy rain in the afternoon or evening,” said state Civil Protection director Erik Cavazos, adding that temperatures would drop over the weekend.