VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico (AP) — More than 200,000 people's homes have been flooded in Mexico's Tabasco state after days of torrential ran.
The flooding has claimed at least three lives -- three people drowned earlier this week while trying to flee a torrent of water in a drainage canal.
An estimated 20,000 people are being housed in shelters while others have set up makeshift tents near their homes to prevent looting.
Some in the more than a dozen towns swamped by the rains complain no help has arrived. Tabasco's governor says people "are in a desperate situation," but adds that many are ignoring pleas to evacuate because they fear looting.
Floods occur yearly in Tabasco despite government efforts to improve infrastructure.
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<<APPHOTO MXGB105 (11/06/09)>>
: A man moves a boat in front of a flooded home near Huimanguillo, Mexico, Friday, Nov. 6, 2009. According to local reports, nearly 200,000 people in the southern Mexican state of Tabasco have been affected by this week's flooding, as more rain fell on the region today.
