As thousands of soldiers and rescuers cleared tonnes of mud and airlifted supplies to flood victims, the government faced criticism yesterday for doing too little in response to torrential rains which may have killed 400 in Mexico.
At least 160 people died in a mudslide in Teziutlan, according to the mayor of the eastern Mexican village. However, it was later claimed this figure included the missing.
Numerous communities have been cut off by swollen rivers or blocked roads and lack food, drinking water and other supplies.
In the eastern state of Puebla, 170 people have been killed. In Veracruz, 50 deaths were officially reported, though a radio station put that toll at more than 70.
Twelve people were reported dead in Hidalgo, six in Tabasco and six more in Oaxaca, which had already been hit hard by a powerful earthquake which killed 31 people last week.
Many more people have been reported missing and at least 200,000 have had to abandon their homes.
One of the areas of greatest devastation appears to be Michun, 160 km north-east of Mexico City, where a landslide covered the school and most of the houses, burying possibly as many as 70 people, said Mr Rocio Vazquez, of Puebla state's Civil Protection unit.
In some areas, there were reports of villagers eating livestock they found floating in the floods, adding to the health concern. With tens of thousands of people cramming refugee shelters, authorities were already worried that diseases could spread rapidly.
Mayors of rural communities said aid was late in coming and in some cases, helicopters and rescue teams did not arrive at all, despite reports that hundreds of people had perched on the roofs of their homes for days awaiting rescue.
But the government rejected the criticism. Interior Minister Mr Diodoro Carrasco said: "We are working intensely with the state governments to be able to overcome this critical stage and looking for the best way of helping the victims."
More than 7,000 soldiers, Red Cross rescuers and volunteers are taking part in relief efforts. In Veracruz, seven helicopters and a Soviet-made Antonov aircraft rescued 1,000 people and started airlifting food to communities.
In several communities in the Sierra region of Puebla, dozens of people were feared trapped under mud and rocks that came crashing down mountainsides onto their homes and schools.
Many of those killed were Indians living in poor villages of Peubla's mountainous Sierra, such as Teziutlan, or Tetela de Ocampo, where 31 bodies were found.
Before moving over Mexico, the storms left 81 people dead in Central America.