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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2007 
Mexican Floods Bring Scary Aftermath
 News Limited
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| | People evacuate a flooded area in Villahermosa, Mexico, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007. Many victims have spent the better part of a week trapped by the rising waters, and authorities warned of a possible health crisis and scattered reports of looting. President Felipe Calderon, who surveyed the disaster zone from the air on Friday, called the flooding one of Mexico's worst recent natural disasters. (AP/Eduardo Verdugo) |
Villahermosa, Mexico - Devastating floods in southern Mexico have claimed eight lives and left 800,000 people homeless as rescuers at the weekend struggled to evacuate people from rooftops and bring supplies to those protecting their homes from would-be looters.
The Department of Civil Defence in Chiapas state, which borders on Guatemala, reported finding seven bodies between Friday and Saturday. The dead included five adults swept away by swollen rivers, a 25-year-old undocumented Honduran immigrant, who drowned while trying to cross a river, and an eight-year-old girl who fell from a bridge.
In neighbouring Tabasco - where one man died earlier in the week, and where almost 80 per cent of the state was covered in filthy, muddy water up to 6m in some places - river levels began to recede slightly on Saturday. The Government also said it would reduce water outflows from a dam upstream.
Still, the state capital of Villahermosa remained largely flooded and prey to horrifying rumours - that crocodiles, which normally live along the banks of some rivers, had invaded the murky floodwaters in the city's centre, or that the dam upstream was about to burst.
The Tabasco state Government said the dam was not in danger, but it had no immediate comment on the crocodile rumour. Officials instead concentrated on supplying food and water to tens of thousands of people at emergency shelters, and others who had decided to ride out the flood on the roofs of their homes, in a bid to discourage looters.
Many victims have spent the better part of a week trapped by the floodwaters, and authorities warned of a possible health crisis.
"We need help," one woman said after being rescued by helicopter from the roof of a school.
"There are a lot of people up there; there are pregnant women, children. They didn't want to leave their homes but there's now no other option. We've lost everything."
President Felipe Calderon, who surveyed the zone from the air on Friday, called the flooding one of Mexico's worst recent natural disasters.
Mr Calderon ordered the armed forces and federal police to maintain order and prevent looting, but local radio reported that desperate residents had begun sacking markets for supplies.
Emergency shelters already held 69,000 flood victims, but tens of thousands more were leaving the state entirely, as food, water and power became increasingly scarce.
"We are not going to fight over food. Everybody here has suffered the same," said Maria del Carmen Arias, 48, as her granddaughter slept in her lap at an improvised shelter at a church in Villahermosa. Ms Arias said her family might leave the city as well, to stay at a relative's farm.
Tonnes of supplies and medical aid streamed into the region aboard planes and trucks, but little food and water were available in stores in Villahermosa, where intermittent rains fell at the weekend.
Some roads were cut off by floodwaters, making it hard to distribute supplies. Elsewhere, highways were clogged with flood victims camped out on roads - the highest terrain available in some waterlogged rural areas.
A week of heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, submerging at least 80 per cent of the oil-rich state. Much of Villahermosa looked like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, with murky water reaching to second-storey rooftops.
AP, Reuters
Mexico Flood Victims Face Health Crisis
Press TV
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Floods have forced Mexicans to evacuate their homes.
Mexican authorities have warned about health crisis facing the victims of floods triggered by heavy rains last week, news reports say.
Hope is all that remains for many of the more than 900,000 residents driven from their homes by floodwaters that still cover more than three-quarters of the gulf state of Tabasco, wrote Dallas News on Sunday.
Roughly half the population was said to have been displaced.
The state capital of Villahermosa remained largely flooded and prey to horrifying rumors - that crocodiles, which live along the banks of some rivers, had invaded the murky floodwaters in the city's center, or that the dam upstream was about to burst.
The Tabasco government said the dam was not in danger but had no immediate comment on the crocodiles.
Officials instead concentrated on supplying food and water to tens of thousands of people at emergency shelters and others who had decided to ride out the flood on the roofs of their homes, in a bid to discourage looters.
Officials said they are worried about the spread of waterborne diseases as the increasingly fetid water cooked in the tropical weather. |
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