Tens of Thousands Flee Mexico Flooding*

By LISA J. ADAMS,
Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY - A week of heavy rains unleashed massive flooding Wednesday
in southeastern Mexico, where tens of thousands fled the rising waters
for shelters in Tabasco and Chiapas states.

At least 20,000 people had sought shelter in Tabasco's oil-rich capital
of Villahermosa, where floodwaters reached the rooftoops of homes, and
Gov. Andres Granier was urging residents to evacuate.

"If they do not leave, I'm going to order them out by force," Granier
told reporters in an interview broadcast on the Televisa television network.

The flooding, which is not related to Tropical Storm Noel, also
apparently caused the soil supporting a 10-inch natural gas pipeline to
give way and spring a leak, officials from the state-owned company
Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said. Tabasco state officials said the
pipeline had exploded, but that there were no deaths or injuries.

Water also crept up around the huge stone heads of an Olmec Indian
archaeological site in Tabasco.

President Felipe Calderon flew to the area Wednesday and offered "all
help humanly possible" to the more than 300,000 people of the state
whose homes were flooded, damaged or cut off.

In the southern state of Chiapas, 7,000 people were evacuated due to
floods, the daily newspaper El Universal reported.

In Villahermosa, rooftops barely jutted above the surface of brackish
waters flooding the city's streets after at least one major river
overflowed its banks.

"Tabasco (normally) has water on 34 percent of its territory, but I can
tell you that now, it's more than 70 percent water," Granier said
Tuesday, according to a transcript of his comments posted on the state
government's Web site. "In 48 hours, our state has been devastated,
totally devastated."

The site did not indicate how many people had been evacuated. Telephones
at Tabasco state offices rang busy all day Wednesday.

Heavy rains started swelling rivers on Sunday.

___

Associated Press Writer Mark Stevenson contributed to this report.