Flooding in Mexico: 3 killed, Thousands Flee

Flooding in Mexico: 3 killed, Thousands Flee, Flooding caused by heavy rains along Mexico’s southern Gulf Coast has drenched Tabasco state, killing three people and forcing more than 44,000 people from their homes.
Tabasco Governor Andres Granier said homes in 91 communities have been flooded. The federal government declared a state of emergency in the communities of Cardenas and Huimanguillo and troops were helping to rescue people trapped in their homes. Water in some streets in these communities reached one and a half metres. Residents tried to rescue what they could from their homes, others lost everything. In the affected communities of Cardenas and Huimanguillo, 2,200 bundles of basic food products were distributed as well as 1,000 mattresses. Some 34 temporary shelters in these communities were also set up in the region of La Chontalpa, where more than 10,000 people are staying in refuges. The figure could increase in the next few days.
Local authorities said the heavy rains had damaged health centres, schools, churches, homes and could’ve affected 80,000 hectares of harvesting lands. Conagua, the national water commission, said river levels in the state were stable, only Samaria River was 56 cms (22inches) above its critical scale. Civil Protection authorities said sandbag and clay barriers were being placed around the state capital Villahermosa. Heavy rains have also affected Chiapas and the neighbouring state of Veracruz. Residents have expressed their frustration that government infrastructure projects have not prevented annual flooding in Tabasco. Mexico faced huge floods in 2007 when weeks of heavy rain put the banana-growing state of Tabasco under water in a disaster that cost insurers $700 million, according to an industry group and left some 800,000 people homeless.

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Flooding in Mexico: 3 killed, Thousands Flee was first posted on November 5, 2009 at 3:25 pm.