By IANS
Villahermosa (Mexico) : Scores of houses were washed away and hundreds of residents rendered homeless in chilling cold as snow storms and heavy rain caused the Teapa River in the southern state of Tabasco to burst its banks, officials have said.
“We have reports of flooding at a point called Kilometre 41, where the river flowed over the asphalt surface,” Rurico Dominguez, Tabasco state emergency services chief, was quoted as saying, Spain’s EFE news agency reported Friday.
Mexico is currently being affected by the Arctic winds that brought sub-freezing temperatures, snow, rains and high winds, forcing the closure of Gulf coast ports to navigation.
In November, Tabasco suffered the worst flooding in its history, with 70 percent of the state’s surface washed away and more than a million people forced out of their homes.
Dominguez said that in the rural town of Ignacio Rayon, the river covered the highway that links Tabasco’s capital, Villahermosa, to the city of Teapa.
According to officials, the floods have inundated banana plantations and pastures destroying the crops.
The water levels of at least six rivers in the mountainous eastern part of Tabasco rose because of the cold front.
“We continue monitoring the rivers whose levels rose,” National Water Commission spokesman Gilberto Segovia said.
Officials warned that some 200,000 people could be affected if the rivers in the region overflowed their banks.