Villahermosa: Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans fled devastating floods along the swampy Gulf coast, with many leaving for other parts of the country amid reports of looting and warnings of a possible health crisis.
President Felipe Calderon, who surveyed the disaster zone from the air on Friday, called the flooding one of Mexico's worst recent natural disasters.
A week of heavy rains caused rivers to overflow, submerging at least 80 per cent of the oil-rich state of Tabasco. Much of the state capital, Villahermosa, looked like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, with murky water reaching to second-storey rooftops and desperate people waiting to be rescued.
At least one death was reported and nearly all services, including drinking water and public transportation, were shut down as more than 900,000 people in the state of 2 million had their homes flooded, damaged or cut off.
Disease
Food was extremely scarce, and federal Deputy Health Secretary Mauricio Hernandez warned of possible outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
"With so many people packed together there is a chance that infectious diseases could spread," Hernandez said.
About 150 of the state's hospitals and clinics were out of commission due to the flooding.
Calderon ordered the armed forces and federal police to maintain order and prevent looting, but local radio reported desperate residents had begun sacking markets for supplies.
Roads not covered by water were clogged with long lines of cars as residents tried to leave Villahermosa for less affected areas. Half of the city's petrol stations were out of service, but the exodus appeared to be orderly with no reports of violence.
Hurricane Noel heads for New England
New England braced for the remnants of Hurricane Noel, the deadliest storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, yesterday. It was expected to lash the coast with winds of up to 128.7 km/h and heavy rain.
The 14th named storm of the season left 132 people dead and thousands homeless in the Caribbean, primarily in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
