Food, Water Scarce in Mexico Floods
Pastor Dale Morgan
Food, Water Scarce in Mexico Floods*
By IOAN GRILLO
The Associated Press
Monday, November 5, 2007; 1:20 PM
VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico -- At least 20,000 people were still trapped Monday
on the rooftops of homes swallowed by water in one of the worst floods
in Mexico's history. Government officials worked furiously to distribute
aid and vowed to crack down on looting.
Residents were running perilously short of food and water after nearly a
week of floods that destroyed or damaged the homes of as many as half a
million people.
Homes sit under floodwaters in Villahermosa, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 4,
2007. Mexico's President Felipe Calderon called the flooding one of the
country's worst recent natural disasters, submerging at least 80 percent
of the oil-rich Tabasco state and destroying or damaging the homes of as
many as half a million people. At least 8 people have died. (AP
Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Authorities said two more bodies were found Sunday floating in the
brackish waters covering much of the region. If confirmed the deaths
were caused by the flooding, the disaster's death toll would stand at 10.
Officials said the capital, Villahermosa, was still completely under
water Monday, although river levels had begun to drop after rising to
historic levels.
Soldiers created makeshift docks out of sandbags for boats that trolled
the water-filled streets, rescuing stranded victims. Some people hitched
boat rides back to homes they abandoned a week earlier to retrieve
medication, clothing and other supplies before returning to shelters.
President Felipe Calderon has visited the devastated state three times
pledging the government's help.
"We are seeing one of the worst natural catastrophes in the history of
the country," he said. "Not only because of the size of the area
affected, but because of the number of people affected."
Since rivers first began to burst their banks Oct. 28, the homes of an
estimated half a million people have been damaged or destroyed, and at
least that many more people have been affected by severed utilities and
transportation corridors, according to the government. In neighboring
Chiapas state, four bridges and 180 miles of roads were washed out.
"People are fighting over food and water, and the lack of electricity
and running water are making life in the city impossible," said Martha
Lilia Lopez, who has been handing out food to victims on behalf of a
nonprofit foundation she heads.
Many in Tabasco remained camped out on the rooftops or upper floors of
their flooded homes to guard their possessions from looters, but their
resolve was running out _ along with water, food and other supplies.
"We spent days without food. We thought we were going to die," said
Marta Vidal, 47, who was taken to safety by helicopter.
Daniel Montiel Ortiz, who oversaw helicopter rescue efforts for the
federal police, said rescuers were now focused on "selective
evacuations" _ primarily of sick people _ and delivering badly needed
supplies to isolated communities still surrounded by water.
Some desperate residents in Villahermosa 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. But Ortiz called those
"isolated incidents."
Tabasco Gov. Andres Granier told W Radio on Monday that at least 20,000
people were still stranded in their flooded homes because they were
afraid of looters. Granier said he would crack down on anyone caught
stealing.
After water covered about 80 percent of Tabasco's already swampy coastal
territory, authorities struggled to calculate the damages. Health
authorities reported cases of eye, skin, intestinal and respiratory
infections, but no mass outbreak of waterborne diseases that many had
feared.