OCHA Situation Report
Mexico: Tabasco and Chiapas Floods
14 November 2007


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

This situation report is based on information received from United 
Nations Resident Coordinators in country and OCHA Regional Office in 
Panama.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Federal Government through the Civil Protection System has declared 
that the search and rescue phase has come to an end and is now moving 
into rehabilitation and reconstruction.

The affected population based on the initial estimates from the Civil 
Protection is of over 330,000 people for all Chiapas.

SITUATION

1. The water level continues to recede with pumps being employed in a 
24/7 effort. According to the state governing body in Tabasco, it is 
estimated that 8 million cubic meters have to be drained; currently they 
are pumping water at a rate of 12,6 cubic meters/sec. In Villahermosa, 
the centre of town is expected to be dry in 4 days. A total of 57 pumps 
are currently at work.

2 The Federal government through the Civil Protection System has 
declared that the search and rescue phase has come to an end and are 
moving into rehabilitation and reconstruction.

3. Entities involved in aid delivering agree that actions are now 
focused in fulfilling the needs of groups on vulnerable situation such 
as women, children and the elder. Emotional and psychosocial needs 
starting to rise. Notwithstanding the current situation of the 
population gathered in shelters, reports of violence, robberies and 
disturbs are still an important issue.

4. Authorities are worried about the potential of outbreaks at this 
stage of the emergency. Helicopter flights have been reduced by 70% and 
from now on assistance is expected to arrive everywhere either by boat 
or land transportation.

5. The attention is currently focused in those communities away from 
Villahermosa where efforts have been reinforced in order to prevent 
outbreaks of diseases.

6. The Federal Government has responded with the deployment of 8,000 
soldiers, 3,000 navy elements and over 2,000 policemen working in 
affected areas. Helicopters have been performing 4 to 5 missions, on 
average, per day distributing supplies and performing sporadic rescue 
operations.

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

7. The President of Mexico Felipe Calderon stated that 6,000 tons of 
food, blankets, clothes and basic provisions have been collected.

8. The UNCT continues to support the Federal and Local authorities by 
identifying the loopholes on the coordination capacities and the 
assistance distribution.

TABASCO

9. While the main humanitarian needs are well covered by the Government 
of Mexico, there are clear indications and direct requests for recovery 
related issues, such as restoring livelihoods, houses, and larger 
hydraulic schemes. The Government has set up temporary employment 
schemes. As the water keeps receding, people start to trickle out of the 
shelters to their homes, depending on the extent of damage they find.

10. The authorities are attempting to relocate people into the larger 
shelters, where they can benefit from the assistance provided and also 
improve the logistics of the distribution of assistance. There is some 
resistance to this, as families prefer to stay together and in smaller 
settings.

11. The Secretary of Health has organised various brigades to assess and 
assist in sanitation, water purification (chlorination), fumigation 
(prior to the disaster there was already an identified risk of dengue 
epidemic), epidemic control and vaccinations (hepatitis A, tetanus, 
diphtheria, flu, TB, etc).

12. A large contingent of doctors was deployed to attend to the affected 
population and every official shelter has a health facility. One of the 
areas of concern is psychosocial assistance and mental health care. 
UNICEF has indicated it would conduct a workshop with mental health 
specialists to address this need.

13. Health campaigns through media sources are helping to inform people 
how to reduce health risks. The Secretary of Health reported isolated 
cases of dengue (54 persons) and two unconfirmed cases of leptospirosis.

14. Waste generated by hospitals and healthcare clinics are being 
disposed of in a efficient and clean way. The normal procedure of 
collection of hospital waste, transport, treatment and disposal is 
functioning at pre-disaster level. No environmental threats are being 
reported.

15. The Department of Reproductive Health has set up three shelters, 
which focus on pregnant women. To date, 283 pregnant women have been 
registered, most of them lodged in these 3 specific shelters.

16. The education sector has been one of the most affected by the 
floods. Tabasco counts 5,302 schools, of which 2,067 are affected and 
219 used as temporary shelters, according to the Government. Most 
affected are the schools in the centre of Villahermosa. The damage and 
loss of educational material requires special attention as well as some 
psychosocial assistance to the school going population. In 5 
municipalities in Tabasco, the schools are functioning again.

17. As per the Secretariat of Commerce, the normal supply chain (through 
normal channels) has been reestablished in 95% in Tabasco. The army is 
in charge of the distribution of assistance. Aid goes to logistics hubs 
and from there to distribution points. No problems or issues have been 
reported in this area.

18. The Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS in Spanish) 
estimated the damage around USD700 million just in Tabasco, and almost 
20% of houses are insured. The Tabasco Authorities estimated the total 
cost of the damage in USD5 billion.

19. Under the coordination of local authorities and the support of 
SUMA/LSS experts, all donations arriving to Tabasco are being registered 
and classified in the Civil Protection general warehouse, other three 
main reception centers and the airport of Villa Hermosa, with exception 
of those operated by the military. Additional check points will be 
established in selected points of the main road accesses to Tabasco to 
register donations transported by land.

Attachments:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&docid=66A13B3214DBF9A84925739300041505&file=Full_Report.pdf

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International              web: www.cidi.org
    Disaster Information          listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                                guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -