Associated Press
Military trucks hauled bottled water, food, and clothing to Mexico's flooded Gulf coast Friday, as rescue workers in helicopters and boats worked furiously to retrieve thousands of victims stranded on rooftops.
With flooding across nearly all of the Gulf coast state of Tabasco and food and drinking water scarce, health officials warned of possible epidemics of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
An estimated 900,000 people had their homes flooded, damaged or cut off, and as of Thursday, 300,000 still had not been rescued, Tabasco Governor Andrés Granier said.
Police, soldiers, and military workers were still trying to reach the stranded.
It was becoming difficult to find a safe place to put refugees. Officials improvised, turning parking garages and any other dry structure into temporary shelters. Dozens of hospitals and medical centers were also flooded, complicating treatment of the sick.
Health officials warned of the risk of a cholera epidemic, although no cases had been reported.
Tabasco state floods every year around this time, and many poor, low-lying neighborhoods have grown accustomed to spending six months a year with the first floor of their home underwater.
But this year's flooding has taken even flood-weary residents by surprise, inundating the state capital of Villahermosa and leaving the city's famous Olmec statues with water up to their enormous stone chins.(Related News: Ancient City Found in Mexico; Shows Olmec Influence [January 26, 2007])
"The situation is extraordinarily grave: This is one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the country," Mexican President Felipe Calderón said in a televised address Thursday night.
Several Mexican banks established special accounts into which residents could donate money for the victims, many of whom have lost everything, including their homes.
"Nobody can stand around with his arms crossed," Calderón said. "We can't and won't abandon our brothers and sisters in Tabasco."
A week of heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, leaving at least 70 percent of Tabasco—and 80 percent of the capital—underwater. At least one death was reported.
