VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico -- Otilio Perez de la Cruz has always made a living from the water. Now he lives in it. Sardines dart from his bedroom to his living room. Sometimes they tickle his shins while he watches television.
For nearly a month, the second generation fisherman-turned-fish-vendor and his family of four have lived in thigh-high water in his one-story home.Heavy rain and mud slides have caused massive flooding across southeastern Mexico and this month alone have killed more than 400 people, according to official figures. Unofficial counts put the death toll much higher.
The damage has been especially heavy in Villahermosa, the capital of the state of Tabasco, with 190,000 people displaced from this city of 465,000 since mid-September.
But many, like the Perez family, have opted to stay in their homes to fend off looters. The Perez family now lives on a series of planks balanced on buckets. The planks start at what was their porch and lead from room to room. Their belongings are stacked on tables. Remarkably, they have electricity.
"Be careful going down the stairs," Perez warns a photographer in chest-deep water, struggling for footing as he heads out their front door. "There are three steps. Then you'll feel the curb."
Authorities on Saturday opened the floodgates of the Penitas dam in the neighboring state of Chiapas because it was filled beyond capacity and in danger of bursting from the weeks of heavy rain.
Water levels were expected to rise by as much as 20 inches in already flooded areas and boost dangerously high rivers as a result. Authorities said the water would be released gradually, and no major damage from the release was reported Sunday.
But areas of Villahermosa already were sitting under as much as 61/2 feet of water.
Colonia La Manga II, a working-class neighborhood where Perez lives, has spent the past month under 5 feet of water -- before the floodgates were opened. Residents said they were even seeing crocodiles that escaped after flood waters swept over a nearby hatchery. One woman was surprised by two coral snakes as she was doing dishes.
"If the water gets to here," said Perez, 40, pointing to his chest, "then we'll have to go and call it a loss. But until then, I'm not leaving. There are too many thieves around here."
Here in Colonia La Manga II, residents like Perez struggle to maintain their daily routine. Women lug shopping bags from the mall, kick off their high heels and hop aboard dugout canoes to row home. Teenagers canoe to their friends' homes. Neighbors yell greetings and exchange gossip as they float past each other.
"But you feel bad," said resident Laura Hernandez Martinez, 16. "The water stinks, and a lot of kids are starting to get sick. Sometimes I feel like it'll never go down."