30,000 Mexicans reeling under flood

Mexico City, Nov 4 : Around 32,500 people have been affected by floods caused by heavy rains in southeastern Mexico, officials said Wednesday.

The torrential rains in the past few days caused rivers and lakes to overflow in Tabasco state, damaging homes of some 30,000 people in the towns of Cardenas and Huimanguillo, Governor Andres Granier told reporters.

The interior secretariat has declared a state of emergency Tuesday in the flood-affected municipalities. The security forces are patrolling the streets in the affected towns to prevent looting.

Some 13,000 people were affected in Huimanguillo and three bridges were damaged, Mayor Oscar Ferrer said.

In addition, the railway track linking the states of Tabasco and Veracruz was cut off due to mudslide at a place some 75 km from Villahermosa, Tabasco's capital.

According to official figures, some 4,000 people were shifted to temporary shelters in Tabasco.

Officials in Veracruz said 750 homes were flooded in Agua Dulce and Las Choapas towns near the Tabasco border, and about 100 people were being housed in temporary shelters. More than 2,000 people were affected in Veracruz state.

--IANS