Mexican flood victims grow desperate

Published 10:58 pm Monday, November 5, 2007

VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico — Hungry and dehydrated victims of one of the worst floods in Mexico’s history scrambled for government packages of food and medicine, while at least 20,000 people remained trapped Monday on the rooftops of homes swallowed by water.

Residents were running dangerously short of food and water after nearly a week of floods left 80 percent of the Gulf state of Tabasco under water and destroyed or damaged the homes of about half a million people. Gov. Andres Granier ordered central streets in the state capital of Villahermosa closed to all but rescue workers to prevent looting.

Authorities said two more bodies were found Sunday in the brackish waters covering much of the region. If the deaths are confirmed to have been caused by the flooding, the disaster’s death toll would stand at 10.

Villahermosa, the state capital, was still under water, though river levels had begun to drop after rising to historic levels. The National Water Commission said it had begun efforts to start pumping the streets.

Desperation grew among residents who could not get their hands on government-supplied food and water or who found themselves cut off from crucial medical supplies. Garbage piled up in the murky waters days after the city suspended trash collection and most public services.

As helicopters carrying aid made stops in hard-hit areas, disputes broke out among victims who pushed through crowds and struggled frantically for the packages.

Some people broke into shuttered stores and took food and household goods, and police reported detaining about 50 people for looting over the last couple of days.

Since rivers first began to burst their banks Oct. 28, at least half a million people have been affected by lost power and cut-off roads.

In neighboring Chiapas state, helicopters flew emergency personnel to a town partially buried by a landslide.