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First rain in weeks brings flooding, accidents, power outages, sargassum…and drought relief

Riviera Maya, Q.R. — The arrival of Cold Front 45 left much of the Peninsula in disarray with strong winds and heavy rains. The rains felt around the region Thursday were the first in weeks, bringing an end to the spring drought.

However, the heavy rain left many areas under water. Various degrees of flooding was reported in nearly every municipality where the rain fell. Cancun and Isla Mujeres reported minor flooding in central areas while also disrupting traffic.

The Municipal Traffic Directorate of Cancun reported attending to 14 accidents during the several hour rainfall.

On the island of Isla Mujeres, several residential areas were left without power. The partial blackout, which lasted for around two hours, was restored at 11:45 a.m. reported the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

Although the island of Cozumel also reported minor flooding in some areas, there were no injuries, accidents or power outages reported.

In Playa del Carmen, Traffic Police were out in the rain attending to a five car crunch along the city’s main through highway.

The five vehicle bumper crash happened along Playa del Carmen Boulevard Thursday afternoon near Pintores Avenue. Slowed city traffic was further snarled by the multi-vehicle crash.

A noticeable amount of seaweed also arrived with the cold front. While the amounts are considered manageable, the strong winds push-forced the floating sargassum onto many areas of the coast.

While no accidents were reported around Isla Mujeres, there were reports of island flooding. A city drain is seen bubbling due to overflowing lines.

On Thursday, Mexico’s Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (SMN) forecast the arrival of cold front number 45 in the southeast of Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula. The SMN reported very heavy rains (50 to 75 millimeters) in Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatán with wind gusts of 40 to 60 kilometers per hour (km/h) on the coasts.