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Deadly floods deluge Central America, Mexico hardest hit with 139 dead or missing

Cynthia Long, Staff Writer, DisasterRelief.org
Weeks of heavy rain have claimed nearly 200 lives in Central America and the death toll could continue to rise. In Mexico, the country hardest hit by the floods, 139 are already reported dead or missing and more than 157,000 have been forced from their homes. A tropical depression parked in the Gulf of Mexico continues to deluge the region, threatening to deliver up 10 to 15 inches of rain and the worst flooding Mexico has seen in 40 years.

At least nine of Mexico's 31 states have been inundated with overflowing rivers and dams that destroyed highways and bridges and swept away entire communities in floodwater and mudslides. The heavy rains have left thousands homeless and have hampered clean-up efforts in Oaxaca, where a powerful earthquake struck on September 30.

Those with no time to evacuate before the rising waters engulfed their houses clung to trees and rooftops. In Tulancingo, 60 miles northeast of Mexico City, rescue workers plied flooded streets in rowboats to fetch stranded residents.

Adding to the terror in Villahermosa, the capital of the state of Tabasco, floodwaters carried crocodiles from gorged rivers into the streets. More than five feet of water flooded homes in Tabasco and 50,000 people were evacuated, fleeing in boats with their belongings. At least four people were killed in the state.

The National Weather Commission has warned that Tabasco might have to release water building up behind hydro-electric dams upstream to prevent them from bursting. However, doing so could cause the state's five main rivers to swell by another 12 inches.

In the state of Hidalgo, northwest of Tabasco, authorities have already released water from the La Esperanza dam, flooding two rivers and forcing thousands into emergency shelters. "We could have a catastrophic situation," Gilberto Segovia, an official from the water commission, told the BBC.

The eastern state of Puebla was hardest hit by the flooding. The Mexican television station Televisa reported that 82 were confirmed dead and about 150 others missing. Roughly 19,000 people had been evacuated and 400 communities were affected after 15 inches of rain fell a day in the state's northern mountain region.

In Teziutlan, a mountain city 110 miles east of Mexico City, officials recorded more than 80 mudlsides--one of which swept away 20 houses. At least 25 have died in the area and officials expect the number to grow as they reach isolated areas.

The rain is the result of Tropical Depression 11, which has stalled in the Bay of Campeche in the south of the Gulf of Mexico. According to the National Hurricane Center, it could dump another 10 to 15 inches of rain--grim news for Mexico as well as the Central American countries below its border that have been drenched for more than two weeks and have lost 56 lives to the flooding.

With rampant flash floods and landslides, the watery scene in Central America is frighteningly reminiscent of Hurricane Mitch, which unleashed days of torrential rains and massive flooding that killed about 10,000 people and caused billions of dollars in damage last October.

A tropical storm system sparked two weeks ago by Hurricane Floyd intensified the rains typical this time of year in Central America and the waterlogged region had been drenched continuously for days. According to recent reports the rain has tapered off, but swollen rivers have jumped their banks, avalanches of mud have swept away hillsides and homes, and churning flash floods have ripped apart bridges and highways.

Most recently, the raging waters knocked down two bridges along the Pan-American Highway, blocking traffic throughout Central America. In Nicaragua, a bridge over the Negro River in Somotillo collapsed, stranding at least 5,000 cars.

A "Red Alert" was declared for the entire country of Honduras. A red alert is the highest state of emergency, under which refuges and shelters are opened and Red Cross workers, emergency response personnel and the military are mobilized to deal with potential disasters.

The heavy rains caused the levels of the country's main rivers (Ul=FAa, Chamelecón, Choluteca, and Grande) to fluctuate constantly, flooding neighboring communities. About 6,500 people were evacuated, and homes and bridges were destroyed or seriously damaged.

The northern low-lying, banana-growing areas of Honduras's Sula valley was most affected. Some 6,000 people were evacuated because they live in areas that could have been flooded as the government released water from the saturated reservoir at El Cajon, the largest hydroelectric dam in the country. In the capital, Tegucigalpa, 34 families were evacuated from their homes in a steep area at risk of landslides.

A "Red Alert" has also been declared for the entire country of El Salvador. About 3,000 people were evacuated from El Salvador's 14 departments including urban areas of San Salvador. "We're going to a shelter because we're afraid it could become another Mitch," said Juan Perez, an El Salvadoran man who lives on the banks of the Lempa River.

A schoolteacher and a government clerk were drowned in a river in the eastern part of the Central American nation, bringing the death toll from heavy rains and flooding in the country to eight, officials said on Wednesday. Jorge Escobar, governor of La Union province, told Reuters that the two people drowned in the La Cuevona River, near Lislique.

At least 12 died in Guatemala, including two people who contracted cholera from the contaminated floodwaters in the small town of Cahabon in the department of Alta Verapaz. The local government reports 21 more cases and the Department of Health has issued a red alert for cholera and other water-borne diseases in 14 of Guatemala's 22 departments.

In Costa Rica the rains forced more than 1,600 people from their homes and damaged 31 bridges and 175 miles of roads, according to the National Emergency Commission.

Nicaragua President Arnoldo Aleman ordered a state of emergency in his country. "We have reports from all over the country of damage due to the rains," said Maj. Mayor Rogelio Flores Ortiz, head of operations for Nicaragua's Civil defense agency.

Some 4,000 people have been affected by the flooding, with hundreds staying in 12 refugee shelters nationwide, according to Red Cross spokeswoman Leonora Rivera.

The World Food Program and other organizations were distributing food and supplies, while the Red Cross and Civil Defense continued rescue efforts throughout the flooded region.

The American Red Cross is working alongside the Red Cross societies of the affected countries to provide disaster relief and has provided flood victims with everything from food, water jugs, blankets, and comfort kits to rubber boots, waterproof overalls, axes, machetes, and shovels.

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