A section of the roof at the Wyndham Mérida hotel gave way Monday, sending glass and debris crashing down and putting guests and staff on edge — though no injuries were reported. The collapse on Avenida Colón in the García Ginerés neighborhood came as the city was still absorbing the effects of a historic weekend storm.
The timing was no coincidence. On May 29, Mérida shattered its all-time rainfall record for the month of May, logging 154 mm (about 6.1 inches) in a single day — more than twice the monthly average and well above the 25-50 mm that forecasters had predicted. The previous record, set in 2010, was 96.4 mm.
Hotel staff said the area of the roof that failed had been closed to guests at the time. No workers or visitors were in the zone when the collapse occurred. Among the damage: shattered windows and a utility pole alongside the building. State police cordoned off the area, and Yucatán’s civil protection agency, Procivy, arrived to review the hotel’s permits and inspect the structure. An investigation is underway to determine whether the rains caused the failure or whether other factors — age, maintenance, drainage — played a role.
A Season of Saturated Structures
The Wyndham incident is the most dramatic example of a broader problem that Mérida faces every rainy season, which runs roughly from mid-May through October. The city sits on a porous limestone shelf with limited natural drainage, and its drainage network — however extensive — gets overwhelmed quickly when storms arrive in force.
But the strain isn’t limited to streets and storm drains. Buildings take a beating too, and this year’s early, intense rains have exposed weaknesses across the city’s built environment. Just days before the Wyndham collapse, video circulated widely on social media showing water streaming into the emergency area of the new O’Horán Hospital — inaugurated by President Claudia Sheinbaum on May 17, just eight days earlier. The facility, billed as the largest hospital in southeastern Mexico and Central America, was built by the army’s engineering corps at a cost of more than 5 billion pesos. IMSS-Bienestar, which runs the hospital, acknowledged that water entered through the automatic doors of the emergency entrance but denied any roof or structural damage.
Gov. Joaquín Díaz Mena visited the hospital following the flooding reports and said services were fully operational and uninterrupted. Repairs to minor leaks, he said, would be handled in coordination with military and state authorities.
Older Buildings, Newer Worries
The hospital episode echoed what Mérida’s civil protection authorities have seen repeatedly in the historic center. Last year, they shuttered a clothing store on Calle 65 after a routine rainstorm revealed a failing roof, crumbling cornice, and clogged drainage — part of the city’s ongoing rainy-season warnings about aging structures in Centro. In 2021, a crafts shop partially collapsed. A cantina collapse in Progreso killed three people in 2019.
Mérida has launched a prevention campaign called Aguas con tu Techo — roughly translated as “Watch Your Roof” — to encourage building owners to clear gutters, prune overhanging branches, seal cracks, and inspect cornices before the rains intensify. But voluntary maintenance campaigns can only go so far when the storms arrive harder and faster than expected.
The city maintains more than 120,000 drainage grates, 110,000 collection wells, and 71 cisterns. Despite that network, municipal officials receive an average of nearly 7,000 citizen complaints related to drainage every rainy season.
What Comes Next at the Wyndham
At the Wyndham, investigators from Procivy will determine whether the hotel can reopen the affected section and whether any modifications are required before it does. The Wyndham Mérida sits on Avenida Colón — one of the city’s main east-west corridors and the heart of its hotel zone — and is one of the better-known international properties in the capital.
No official timeline has been given for completing the structural assessment.
Fast Facts
- The roof collapse occurred at the Wyndham Mérida hotel on Avenida Colón in the García Ginerés neighborhood
- No injuries were reported; the damaged area had been closed to guests and staff
- Mérida set a new all-time rainfall record for May on May 29: 154 mm in 24 hours, shattering the previous mark of 96.4 mm set in 2010
- Yucatán’s civil protection agency (Procivy) and state police responded to the scene
- An investigation is underway to determine whether the cause was rain-related or structural
- The new O’Horán Hospital — inaugurated May 17 and built at a cost of over 5 billion pesos — also saw water infiltration during the same storm system; IMSS-Bienestar denied structural damage
- Mérida’s rainy season runs from approximately May 15 through October
- The city’s “Aguas con tu Techo” campaign urges building owners to inspect roofs and drainage before and during the rainy season
- For more on structural risks during Mérida’s rainy season, see Proceso’s reporting on the O’Horán flooding
El Universal, Proceso, The Watchers, Yucatán Magazine