MEXICO CITY: Some 125,000 people have been forced out of their homes and 500 kilometers (300 miles) of roadways have been washed away in flooding in southeast Mexico, Tabasco state Governor Andres Granier said Wednesday.
“We flew over the rivers and municipalities and we can say that Tabasco is practically under water,” he told W Radio.
Granier said he asked for federal government for aid to help deal with the crisis. Hardest hit was Cardenas, a city of 250,000 which is around one-third under water, according to local officials.
The region, along with nearby Central American nations, have been hard hit by exceptionally heavy rains since July.
Mexico has seen 40 deaths and 400,000 displaced due to floods and mudslides over that period, after a 2010 season that was even worse.
Officials in Central American states of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica reported 90 dead and 700,000 displaced in the past week after the region was hit by as much as 120 centimeters (47 inches) of rain in some areas.
Meteorologists say the rain is caused by two different low-pressure weather systems, the first from the Pacific and the second from the Caribbean. (AFP)
