Mexico restores most energy services after storms, death toll hits 123

Mexico had restored 95 percent of energy services hit by two devastating hurricanes that left 123 people dead, 33 injured and 68 missing, a minister said Monday. Ingrid and Manuel, the two storms which hit Mexico's Pacific and Atlantic coasts respectively within 24 hours last week, have affected about 1.2 million people in 24 of the country's 32 states. A total of 312 cities in 14 states declared states of emergency due to the heavy rains brought by the two hurricanes. About 59,000 people were evacuated nationwide, of whom 39,000 were still living in shelters, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said. He said thousands of homes were hammered by the storms and the government was assessing the amount of damage to roads and infrastructure. President Pena Nieto will meet Tuesday with senior officials to make an overall assessment of the damage. On Sunday, he suggested the Congress revise Mexico's 2014 budget to allocate more funds for reconstruction. Chong said 1,178 collection centers had been installed across the country to support affected people and 13 tons of medicine had been distributed in the southwestern state of Guerrero, the most severely affected region in the country. In La Pintada, a mountain village in Guerrero hit by a massive landslide Wednesday, 68 people remain missing, most presumed dead. Rescue workers were still digging through tons of mud and dirt to search for survivors, with five bodies recovered so far.