Flooded Mexicans living on rooftops

VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Thousands of impoverished Mexicans are subsisting on their rooftops a week after deadly floods hit the state of Tabasco, The New York Times reported Thursday.

A Times correspondent toured Villahermosa and reported seeing a family of 14 butchering a pig on their roof as others paddled around in the brown water in canoes.

Tens of thousands in Tabasco and neighboring Chiapas state were left homeless by the flooding that killed at least 19 people. Tabasco Gov. Andres Ganier said the flooding caused $5 billion in damage in his state, the Los Angeles Times said.

He said thousands of evacuees wouldn't be able to return home for months.

The New York report said many of those camped out on rooftops are there to protect their belongings from looters, while others said they refused to live in government shelters.

The few people stranded who have money said they occasionally took boats to an air-conditioned supermarket on high ground that remained dry.