Life since the 2007 Mexico floods has been a learning curve for Hugo Gutierrez. He said Caritas Tabasco’s small team was almost overwhelmed when the disaster happened. After the floods Mr Gutierrez did emergency response training to ensure that if the floods ever came again, people would be better protected.

“We learned about how to organise and divide tasks, how to improve assistance and how to develop emergency plans,” said Mr Gutierrez. The training covered many aspects of emergency response including evacuation drills, disaster prevention and minimum standards for disaster response.

Mr Gutierrez considers the training to have been invaluable as it helped Caritas Tabasco identify strengths and weaknesses and map the risks for future disasters. The training means that Caritas is better prepared to face whatever nature throws at it.

“Now people can really count on us,” said Mr Gutierrez.