Mexico ? Residents began running perilously short of food and water in Mexico’s southern Gulf coast Sunday after a week of devastating floods that destroyed or damaged the homes of as many as half a million people.

Authorities said two more bodies were found Sunday floating in brackish waters covering much of the region. If confirmed the deaths were caused by the flooding, the disaster’s toll would stand at 10.

“We are seeing one of the worst natural catastrophes in the history of the country,” President Felipe Calderon said in Tabasco state.

Since rivers first began to burst their banks Oct. 28, the homes of an estimated half a million people have been damaged or destroyed, and at least that many more people have been affected by severed utilities and transportation corridors, according to the government.

River levels began to recede slightly Sunday, but the city of Villahermosa remained largely flooded. Health authorities reported cases of eye, skin, intestinal and respiratory infections, but no mass outbreak of waterborne diseases that many had feared.