Floods leave tens of thousands homeless in Mexico

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Source: AP via The Jakarta Post

Villahermosa, Mexico | Wed, 09/08/2010 -

Weeks of torrential rains have unleashed flooding in huge swaths of southern Mexico, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes.

Tens of thousands more are sleeping on their roofs, refusing to abandon their possessions even as the rivers around them rise rapidly.

Authorities on Tuesday started releasing 2,000 cubic meters (71,000 cubic feet) of water per second from four damns in the region that have reached capacity. That caused several rivers to overflow.

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The flooding has affected all four southernmost Mexican states: Tabasco, Veracruz, Chiapas and Oaxaca. People in the region are accustomed to severe flooding every year, and the government often struggles to persuade residents to leave dangerous zones. In Tabasco, the homes of more than 124,000 people have been severely flooded. More than 187,000 hectares of crops belonging to 20,000 people have been lost.

But only 2,000 people in the state are in shelters.

Read more: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/09/08/floods-leave-tens-thousands-homeless-mexico.html

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