at least eight dead from the storm that overwhelms millions of people

While Roberto struggles to work under the relentless sun, Wendy struggles so that the food does not rot. The heat wave that hits Mexico leaves eight people dead and disrupts the lives of millions of citizens.

Roberto de Jesús, 50, offers his services as a bricklayer on the left flank of the Metropolitan Cathedral, in the historic center of Mexico City, which this week reached record temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius.

And now it is dealing with the third heat wave that has hit the country so far this year and that could last two more weeks.

It is noon and the sun warms the asphalt and the rock of the buildings of the crowded capital. The crowds, plus the emissions from area cars and businesses, create a stifling environment.

The heat “really does permeate, it feels very heavy. Waiting for work (work) makes you sleepy (…) For the same reason, sometimes we are very dehydrated,” says De Jesús.

The man spends eight to nine hours a day on his feet waiting for clients, although the hardest part is when he has to work outside at the mercy of the heat. “We are very suffocated,” he says.

But not only working becomes tortuous. Eating at street stalls, a beloved and popular habit among Mexicans, now carries a high risk, as the intense heat quickly breaks down food.

De Jesús recently verified it. “I got sick to my stomach, they were tacos that I ate on the street (…) That was what made me sick,” says the bricklayer, who spent three days convalescing.

“awful heat”

But the street taco makers are not the villains, because in addition to the high temperatures they must work between hot plates and stoves.

“The heat is horrible,” says Javier Ramos, 30, who is in charge of making tacos at a stand on Alameda Central.

“You have to stay hydrated all day,” he says, referring to the 15-hour workday in which he and his colleagues set up the stall, cook and serve the public.

Meanwhile, also located around the cathedral, Natividad Flores, 40, a seller of handmade clothing, believes that “we are seeing the consequences of climate change.”

Protected with gloves, a wide-brimmed hat, sunscreen “and a lot of water,” Flores takes the opportunity to sell “very cool” clothes to “bear the heat.”

“It makes us dizzy, a little bit of sunstroke too,” he says.

Most Mexican states have exceeded 40 ºC

Seven people died from heat stroke and one from dehydration between April 14 and June 12, according to the Ministry of Health. Three in Veracruz (east), two in Quintana Roo (southeast), two in Sonora (north) and one in Oaxaca (south).

In Monterrey, a prosperous city in the northeast, the climate imposes harsh conditions, with temperatures that exceed 40ºC.

The city, which suffered from a historic drought last year, is experiencing a worrying drop in household water pressure, while high demand for electricity from air conditioning use has led to power outages.

Wendy Tijerina, a resident of the municipality of Apodaca, assures that the heat is felt more there because it is an industrial area. “The thermal sensation is stronger, there is no water, you can’t bathe the children and you can’t even use a fan (fan) because they cut off the power,” she told AFP.

scissors He comments that the refrigerator is no longer enough to keep food and that they try to drink a lot of water to protect themselves.

“We are looking to have a cooler to also put medicines that require refrigeration and foods that are somewhat delicate,” he adds.

The state government of Nuevo León, where Monterrey is located, also ordered that children take blended classes, attending schools for only two hours a day to avoid exposure to severe weather.

In addition, some 300 wild birds of various species were found dead in recent days along the coasts of the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Michoacán, Jalisco, Sonora and Baja California Sur, in western Mexico.

Initially, authorities had suspected bird flu, but a joint effort by the country’s agriculture and environment ministries concluded the most likely reason was warming oceans as a result of the El Niño phenomenon.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared earlier this month that El Niño is now underway, after three years dominated by the colder La Niña pattern.

The scientists explain that this year looks particularly worrying as, along with climate change, the current phase should see the world grapple with record-breaking temperatures.