Seven days after The Cazones River flooded Poza Ricaits inhabitants continue working today, Saturday, without rest, to put this city on its feet, which is located about 214 kilometers north of Xalapacapital of Veracruzstate of Mexico.
According to El Universal, without support from the government or private institutions, Several solidarity groups improvised kitchens, supplies and support networks that today feed, listen to and accompany the victims of the Poza Rica flood.
In the Plaza Cívica 18 de Marzo, neighbors of the upper area of the city, which was saved from the river flooding caused by extraordinary rainsthey raised a community kitchen with what they had on hand in their homes from pots, gas tanks, rice, sardines and donated chicken.
None of them belong to an organization, but they are all recognized as part of the same cause.
“We were not affected, but we felt the need to do something. Nobody ordered us, this was born from us,” she says. Patricia Cervantesone of the members of Poza Rica Volunteers.
Starting today, Saturday, October 18, 2025, they prepare food and distribute it with borrowed trucks in the neighborhoods hardest hit by the overflow.
“If it had happened to me, I would like someone to help me. We do it from the heart,” he says. Ingrid20 years old, while arranging bottles of water between sacks of groceries.
The women opened a collection center where They receive help from neighbors, local businesses and also from municipalities such as Misantla, Zozocolco, Papantla and Perotewhich send water, chlorine, soap and cleaning products.
Everything is coordinated from social networks such as Facebook or Tik Tok, where they document deliveries and ask for new support.
“We are not part of any institution, but Rica’s picture “He needs us and we are still here,” he says. Patricia.
Another aid collection center for Poza Rica
A few blocks away, in the Lázaro Cárdenas neighborhood, the Divine Providence Parish also opened its doors as collection center and spiritual refuge.
Although this church was flooded, the priest José Miguel Baltazar Rodríguez maintains its altruistic work at the hands of the non-governmental organization Caritasthrough the distribution of food and emotional support networks.
“Although we were also flooded and lost material things, we are still here, because people need both food and hope. In the midst of sadness, we try to keep faith and empathy alive, to listen to those who lost everything and remind them that they are not alone, that, although it seems impossible, hope is not drowned,” says the father.
The parish network coordinates help with others churches such as María Auxiliadora, San Judas Tadeo, Inmaculada and Guadalupeand offers listening spaces to those who have not yet assimilated the loss.
“We don’t have the solutions, but we share the same suffering. Listening and accompanying also heals,” he adds. the priest
The victims of Poza Rica
In response, affected neighbors They agree that both efforts, the citizen and the religious, respond to the civil solidarity that replaced the official response.
A week after the tragedy, families continue cleaning their houses with buckets and brooms, while volunteers distribute food and water in the streets with remnants of mud that is already hardening.
“We ask the neighbors for patience. Aid will arrive, but in the meantime we must help each other,” says Father Baltazar.