Mexico:Thousands of people were still stranded on their rooftops yesterday awaiting rescue or supplies of food and drinking water as the flood crisis in the southern Mexican state of Tabasco continued.
Shelters were full to bursting, with a bumper-to-bumper exodus on the few passable roads.
Reports that the rivers had receded a few centimetres were little comfort in the centre of Villahermosa, the state capital, which remained several metres under water. Rumours circulated that crocodiles were prowling the murky floodwaters.
Local media reported widespread ransacking of abandoned shops and homes in Villahermosa despite stern warnings and arrests.
Looters said they were stealing to feed their families.
Outside the city rescue workers said it was difficult to reach flood victims because of a boat shortage, and there were few dry areas where helicopters could land. Farmers expressed concern that their cattle, herded on to patches of higher ground with nothing to eat, would be lost along with their harvests.
The official death toll rose to eight, mostly reported from the neighbouring state of Chiapas, which suffered less flooding.
Rain over the weekend was light and intermittent, and the authorities said there was no danger that a major hydroelectric dam upriver would burst, as previously feared. Still, Tabasco, made up of swampy tropical plains below sea level, is expected to remain underwater for some time to come.
- (Guardian service)