As water rose to the roof of his home – nearly covering it as it has covered 80 percent of the Mexican state of Tabasco – Oscar Durango says there was nothing else to do but pitch in.

"I lost everything," he says, standing in the hangar at the airport of Tabasco's state capital, Villahermosa, before loading baby food and bottles of water into military helicopters for the hundreds of thousands of Mexicans displaced by the nation's worst flooding in 50 years. Mr. Durango is surrounded by a dozen other volunteers. All have lost their homes. "The only thing you can do is help others," he shrugs.

It's estimated that half of the 2.2 million residents of this southern, oil-rich state have been turned out by the floods. From the air, the state looks like a single lake with roofs and treetops poking out of the brackish water like islands. Most of the capital is submerged, and tens of thousands of Mexicans are still stranded, a scene suggestive of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. Military officials say they're trying to rescue some 300,000 Mexicans still left stranded in their homes, including many on their rooftops.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón, who flew over the flood-hit state Friday, called it one of the worst natural disasters the country has ever seen. He was schedule to visit again Sunday. Potable water is scarce, and electricity is off in many parts of the state. There have been some reports of looting. But many Mexicans here remained calm, lining up patiently for food supplies and to place calls from local phone booths. Cellphone service is spotty. Many say the volunteer effort here – from Mexicans across the country – is among the largest they've seen.

"The solidarity has been overwhelming," says Norma Cardenas, the director of the state's Institute of Culture who now is in charge of Villahermosa's largest refugee shelter.

Flooding began last week after nonstop rain caused several area rivers to overflow. Tabasco is a low-lying region prone to flooding, but Gov. Andres Granier, who compared it to New Orleans, said it was the worst inundation the state has seen in 50 years. While the floods have reportedly claimed only one victim in Tabasco, on Sunday seven other deaths were attributed to the flooding in the neighboring state of Chiapas.

Officials say many challenges lie ahead, particularly disease prevention once the water recedes. The economic toll has not been tallied, but officials say that all the state's crops, including its famous Tabasco peppers, have been ruined.

Streets leading out of Villahermosa were packed as residents headed for shelters in neighboring Veracruz. There are more than 450 shelters operating throughout the state, according to Max Romero, a spokesperson with the Red Cross in Tabasco.

At the largest one here, set up in the parking garage of an upscale local department store, there are more than 4,600 people – a quarter of whom are children, says Ms. Cardenas. .

Page: 1 | 2