Floods in Mexico Displace Hundreds of Thousands

Posted: 6 November 2007

Oxfam is rushing water treatment systems to shelters in the region to protect public health during the emergency as more than 80,000 people take refuge in temporary shelters.

More than 80,000 people have made their way to temporary shelters since the floods that displaced hundreds of thousands last week hit the Caribbean coast of Mexico. There are more than 70,000 people living in shelters in the state of Tabasco; more than 10, 500 in Veracruz, and around 3,500 in Chiapas. Water levels are not expected to recede for days.

Several sources confirm that the floods in Tabasco and Chiapas have affected more than one million people. Oxfam and the UN Development Program are doing a joint assessment of needs in some of the more rural communities where up to 200,000 people are thought to have lost their homes as well as their crops.

“The losses to the rural sector will have a severe impact on the livelihood of thousands of families - not just those that depend on agriculture for living. But we won’t be able to do a real estimation until the level of water goes down,” said Joost Martens, Oxfam’s Regional Director in Central America.

Oxfam public health experts are now assessing the most pressing health risks and making plans to provide assistance with clean water and sanitation.

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