XALAPA, VER.— The remediation of damage caused by the flooding from Tropical Disturbance 90E—which impacted 38 municipalities in the northern region of Veracruz—will take at least two years, announced Governor Rocío Nahle García. She will also have to oversee the reconstruction of damage from the 2024 weather events that her predecessor, Morena member Cuitláhuac García Jiménez, left unfinished.
Infrastructure damage in northern Veracruz has forced the federal government to intervene, allocating millions of pesos for cleanup and support in the affected municipalities. However, according to information from the Technical Committee of the Civil Protection Trust Fund for the Attention of Natural Disasters and Other Emergencies—created under García’s administration—there are still projects and actions pending from the 2024 fiscal year, the final year of his term.
Since 2019, this Committee has overseen the reconstruction of roads, homes, and schools damaged by rains and flooding between 2020 and 2023. Many of these works were completed during the first months of 2025, while others are still being finalized.
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Other projects reported as completed were never delivered at 100 percent. For that reason, the Internal Comptroller’s Office of the Veracruz Institute of Educational Infrastructure (IVEE) and the State Comptroller’s Office initiated administrative proceedings against the company Infraestructura Carretera, Estudios y Mantenimiento S.A. de C.V., responsible for the construction of housing units. The company collected payment for the contracts but did not finish the work.
At the beginning of 2025, Finance and Planning Secretary Miguel Santiago Reyes Hernández asked the Technical Committee of the Civil Protection Trust Fund to consult his department before authorizing payments or assigning new projects, explaining that all decisions must be approved by Governor Rocío Nahle.
The Pending Projects Left by Cuitláhuac García
Following the creation of the Civil Protection Trust Fund for the Attention of Natural Disasters and Other Emergencies in 2019, numerous projects were planned to rebuild infrastructure damaged by weather events in Veracruz. Most of these projects were completed during the first half of 2025.
On December 27, 2024, the Technical Committee held a meeting with the newly appointed officials of Rocío Nahle García’s administration. An update was presented on the status of remediation works carried out by agencies such as the Veracruz Water Commission (CAEV), the Veracruz Housing Institute (Invivienda), and the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Public Works (SIOP), among others.
Among the reports, the SIOP-OP-PE-060/2024 contract—regarding reconstruction of the base course, asphalt layer, complementary works, and signage along the Las Choapas–Nueva Esperanza highway—showed 47 percent physical progress and 46 percent of payment issued. The road had been damaged by severe rains from October 30 to November 1, 2020, and the delay was attributed to recent weather conditions.
The SIOP-OP-PE-061/2024 contract, for the Las Lajas bridge in the municipality of Misantla, reported 85 percent physical progress and 81 percent payment. Damage resulted from severe rains on October 15 and 16, 2023, which affected six municipalities.
The SIOP-OP-PE-062/2024 contract included reconstruction of the Axalap bridge along the Tezizapa–Axalpa section in the municipality of Naranjal, damaged by rains on August 3 and 4, 2023.
Another ongoing project was the reconstruction of an unnamed bridge along the Bocanita de la Esperanza–El Limón–Puente Rebelde road in Actopan, damaged by Hurricane Grace in 2021. This project showed 90 percent progress and 89 percent payment.
In 2024, four additional projects were contracted to address severe rain damage from September 10 to 16, 2022, across 19 municipalities. SIOP, then headed by Elio Hernández Gutiérrez, assigned projects in Medellín de Bravo, Ignacio de la Llave, Cosoleacaque, and Jesús Carranza.
In Medellín de Bravo, reconstruction of Marco Antonio Aguirre Street was 91 percent complete, with 72 percent payment. In Ignacio de la Llave, rehabilitation of Ignacio de la Llave Street—between Guerrero and Miguel Lerdo—was 65 percent complete, with 47 percent payment.
In Cosoleacaque, rehabilitation of Miguel Hidalgo Avenue—between the Transístmica highway and Ignacio Zaragoza—was 72 percent complete, but no payment had been issued to the contractor. In Jesús Carranza, rehabilitation of the concrete slab on Hidalgo Avenue—between Galeana and Miguel Alemán—showed 19 percent progress, with no recorded payments and the project temporarily suspended.
Another pending project involved reconstruction of the pavement on Miguel Alemán Street—between Miguel Hidalgo and Moctezuma—in the municipality of Omealca, with 75 percent progress and 33 percent payment.
During the committee session, it was agreed that all executing agencies would present updated photographic reports at the next meeting to document physical progress. By June 2025, most projects were reported as completed or in the process of administrative closure.
However, in the June 12, 2025 session, it was reported that road and urban roadway projects had been rescheduled in Actopan, Coatepec, Zongolica, Naranjal, Las Choapas, Cosoleacaque, and Omealca due to various impacts from 2021—Hurricane Grace—2022, and 2023. Despite delays, these works must be completed in 2025.
Remediation in the North Could Take Two Years: Nahle
On October 22, speaking from the municipality of Boca del Río, Governor Rocío Nahle announced that, with federal support, reconstruction efforts would focus on damaged infrastructure in 38 northern municipalities and on supporting families affected by flooding that began on October 10 and lasted about five days. “The task is work, cleanup, reconstruction, and attention. Even if it takes one or two years, we are going to rebuild the roads together with the Federation,” she said.
The governor noted that the remediation trust fund could have at least one billion pesos available, which will be used to recover roads, homes, and basic services in the region. On October 16, she signed a disaster declaration for all 212 municipalities in Veracruz due to damage from rains recorded between October 6 and 10.
During the review of Governor Nahle’s first annual report, Finance and Planning Secretary Miguel Santiago Reyes estimated that cleanup and reconstruction from the October floods will cost 10 billion pesos.
As of his report to local legislators on November 19, at least 4 billion pesos had been invested in aid to victims—funded by the federal government—and one billion from the trust fund. For the 2026 fiscal year, the state will have 800 million pesos available.
Preliminary reports as of November 28, 2025, counted 53,093 affected homes in 26 of the 38 impacted municipalities, as well as damage to 479 schools. Additionally, 37 people were reported dead and seven remain missing.
Regarding pending reconstruction projects from 2021 and those contracted in 2024 under the Cuitláhuac García administration, some were reported as completed while others remain in the final stages.
In June of this year, the trust fund reported income of 110 million pesos, which was invested to generate returns. For 2026, the state budget projects the trust fund will have 283 million pesos allocated for reconstruction.
Trust Fund Already Has One Billion Pesos
As part of the review of Rocío Nahle’s first annual report during local legislative hearings, Finance Secretary Miguel Santiago Reyes detailed that the state’s reconstruction trust fund holds 1.029 billion pesos.
Meanwhile, the head of the Civil Protection Secretariat (SPC), Guadalupe Osorno Maldonado, added that 14 million pesos have already been spent from the fund as part of temporary employment programs implemented in Poza Rica and Álamo for cleanup work.
None of the officials disclosed the total amount of damage caused by the rains. However, the SPC secretary emphasized that executing agencies will receive increased budgets for 2026, which will be used to support reconstruction efforts in the 38 affected municipalities.
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