o enough to prepare for such a scenario.
"The fact is that the government of Mexico published a document on the subject of climate change in 1997 in which the state of Tabasco was singled out as being particularly vulnerable to extreme rainfall.
"You have this since 1997 and the ideal would have been that a degree of adaptation would have taken place. It all suggests a lack of infrastructure."
Escandón believes that the damage in Tabasco and Chiapas could have been considerably minimized, firstly through long-term measures to reduce global warming but also through more immediate actions.
Other human activities also played their part in causing the floods. Deforestation meant that there were not enough trees to soak up surface water, while the Integral Project Against Flooding, set up in 2003 after similarly devastating flood hit the region in 1999, with the intention of building levees and drainage canals along the Grijalva, Carrizal and Samaria rivers was never finished.
Some newspaper reports have highlighted accusations by lawmakers of government corruption, with state officials unable to say where some of the money earmarked for flood prevention has gone.
"The problem of Tabasco is that corruption continues reigning," Francisco Sanchez Ramos, a federal congressman who represents Tabasco, told the LA Times. "Without doubt, this tragedy could have been avoided."
If scientists' predictions play out, this corner of paradise will increasingly experience situations such as the Tabasco floods.
This year Mexico emerged relatively unscathed from the hurricane season -- Ivan and Dean passed over relatively unpopulated areas -- but it seems it is only a matter of time before tragedy strikes again, be it in the form of storms or heavy rains.
The government of Mexico will have to show initiative and prepare for such occurrences if they do not want to be responsible for the loss of lives. E-mail to a friend