Mexico City, Mexico – As the Popocatépetl volcano overlooking Mexico City continues to rumble and smoke, President Enrique Peña Nieto initiated the "National Civil Protection Council" this week — a measure that will help prepare for disasters, he said.

Peña Nieto said that the council would improve communication between the three levels of government to establish effective responses to natural disasters. Mexico is hit each year by earthquakes, hurricanes, and floodings.

The council will oversee a six-point plan called “A Safe Mexico in the Face of Disaster,” which suggests improvements to infrastructure, establishes protocol for emergency services during natural disasters, and seeks to build a culture of awareness.

Interior Secretary Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong said that there would be earthquake, hurricane, and volcanic eruption drills across the country to prepare the Mexican people for disaster, adding that it was important for the public to be aware of the threat natural disasters pose in Mexico.

"We plan to be prepared, to act together to save lives, improve security, and evaluate to better respond to and prevent natural disasters," Osorio Chong said.

Regular earthquake drills have been carried out since a 1985 earthquake in Mexico City killed at least 10,000 people. In 2012, office workers and schoolchildren in Mexico City fled from buildings into the streets following a magnitude 7.8 earthquake.

Osorio Chong said that climate change had affected natural weather cycles and that Mexico was now frequently witnessing previously unusual climate events. Mexico would not only need to respond to these events, but work to actively prevent them, he added.

Sustained droughts and severe flooding are increasingly common, often hitting poor communities the hardest.

Tabasco state is still recovering from a flood in 2007 that is estimated to have caused billions in damages.

Osorio Chong went on to say that the Popocatépetl volcano is under constant watch as it threatens to erupt. "Reinforcing our capacity to deal with major emergencies is a priority issue for the Peña Nieto administration," he said.