Mexicali Mayor Norma Bustamante opened a hydration center at the DIF Peregrino shelter on March 18, launching the city’s heat season emergency response weeks earlier than usual. Unusually high temperatures began hitting Baja California’s capital in February, forcing officials to accelerate their heat protocols and stock oral rehydration serum supplies ahead of schedule.
Early Heat Drives “SOS en Calles” Street Outreach
Bustamante said the early spike prompted the city to activate its “SOS en calles” (SOS on the streets) program, which sends mobile teams into Mexicali’s colonias to reach homeless residents, migrants, and elderly people who lack air conditioning. DIF (Mexico’s family services agency) crews distribute hydration kits containing one liter of water and electrolyte powder packets to people found outdoors during peak daytime hours.
Mexicali sits in the Sonoran Desert just south of Calexico, California, and routinely records some of the highest temperatures in North America. Last year the city logged 10 heat-related deaths. Bustamante said reducing that number to zero is the administration’s goal for 2025.
Hydration Stations to Expand Across the City
The DIF Peregrino shelter, located in central Mexicali, serves as the anchor hydration point. But city officials plan to open additional shelters as temperatures climb past 40°C (104°F) in the coming weeks. Later reports confirmed that the program grew into a broader “S.O.S. Hidrátate” initiative, eventually operating 31 hydration stations in partnership with OXXO convenience stores and Arca Continental (Coca-Cola). Those stations were placed throughout downtown Mexicali and as far east as Los Algodones, the border town popular with American dental tourists about 60 miles east of the main Calexico crossing.
By midsummer, the program had assisted more than 12,000 people, and temperatures in Mexicali reached 49°C (120°F). Fire stations, municipal clinics, and public safety offices also served as distribution points for water and electrolyte supplies.
The city offered a direct assistance phone line at (686) 233-5281 for residents who spot someone in heat distress. Mexicali plans to keep hydration stations running through September, according to La Jornada Baja California.