Mérida, Yucatán, June 13, 2026 – Mérida’s DIF system increased street outreach, food support, and shelter coordination for people living without stable housing as heavy rains continued across the Yucatán capital.
The city’s response included more nighttime shelter space through civil society groups, with one shelter increasing from about 20 people per night to 40 or 45 during the rain emergency.
DIF Mérida also reported more than 400 additional food support measures during the weather contingency. Those were separate from regular deliveries to older adults already on assistance rolls and support provided through local organizations.
Expanded shelter capacity
Gerardo López Fernández, director of DIF Mérida, said the city worked with civil society groups to increase overnight shelter capacity while rain continued.
That coordination included El Buen Samaritano, which took in more people overnight during the emergency, and Igualdad con Perspectiva, a group involved in Mérida’s work to create a shelter model for women living on the street.
A previous report on that project stated that the women’s shelter was planned for Emiliano Zapata Sur III, with a capacity of 30 women and access to dinner, hygiene services, overnight lodging, and follow-up support through the women’s shelter program.
PVDN checked the state emergency information Saturday morning. Yucatán officials have said the state entered the 2026 rainy and cyclone season with 31 state shelters and 1,052 municipal and submunicipal shelters in its response network, according to state government preparedness information.
That system is mainly designed for families affected by flooding or storm risk. Mérida’s DIF response covers a harder-to-track group: people who may not receive alerts through normal household channels and may be difficult to locate once the streets begin to flood.
Rain response is still active
Mérida’s current rain response began before this week’s DIF update.
State officials said earlier this month that a temporary shelter in Ciudad Caucel was prepared to provide safety, food, medical attention, and basic services for people affected by the weather, according to Yucatán’s emergency shelter notice.
The state government also said DIF Yucatán teams had visited flood-affected settlements in southern Mérida, including Pueblo Unido, La Escondida, La Aldea, Santa Teresita, and Roble Agrícola. Families were still dealing with damage from standing water, according to state DIF field reports.
State DIF director Shirley Castillo Sánchez said in that report that the emergency does not end when the rain stops.
As of June 13, the National Meteorological Service was still forecasting a risk of rain for the Yucatán Peninsula associated with tropical wave activity and unstable weather over southeastern Mexico. Conditions can change quickly during the rainy season, especially when repeated showers hit the same neighborhoods, according to the extended federal forecast.
