Eighty per cent of the Southern Mexican state of Tabasco was under water, Governor Andres Granier said while estimating that flooding there had affected half the state's 2.1 million residents and inundated about 800,000 people's homes, according to DPA. In a radio and television address Thursday night, President Felipe Calderon called on his countrymen to help those affected, some of whom had lost all of their belongings, as he called the Tabasco flooding one of the worst natural disasters Mexico had ever seen. All crops had been destroyed, livestock had been killed and most of the state's business sectors had been affected, Granier added. The centre of the capital, Villahermosa, was among the areas evacuated as the government dispatched troops to rescue people trapped by the rising waters. Granier said Thursday that about 350,000 people were trapped in their homes. Flooding was also reported in the neighbouring state of Chiapas as the region has seen nearly unbroken rain since the beginning of last week. Health officials warned residents of outbreaks of tropical diseases, such as the mosquito-borne dengue, while meteorologists said more rain was expected.
