VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico — Tens of thousands of people abandoned their homes across southern Mexico to escape flooding from weeks of torrential rains, and forecasts are predicting even more rainfall.

The situation worsened for some areas Tuesday when authorities began releasing 71,000 cubic feet of water every second from four dams whose reservoirs were filled to capacity. The surge caused several rivers to overflow.

The flooding has affected all four of Mexico's southernmost states: Tabasco, Veracruz, Chiapas and Oaxaca. But despite the dangers, government pleas to evacuate were ignored by many people, who are accustomed to severe flooding every year.

Tens of thousands are sleeping on the roofs of their homes, refusing to abandon their possessions despite the rapid rise of rivers.

In Tabasco state, the homes of more than 124,000 people have been severely flooded. More than 462,000 of crops belonging to 20,000 people have been lost.

But only 2,000 people in the state are in shelters.

BERLIN — John Demjanjuk attends most sessions of his trial in a hospital bed set up in the courtroom, wearing dark sunglasses and a hat pulled down over his face.The case of the retired Ohio autoworker accused of serving as a Nazi death camp guard — which resumes next week after a monthlong summer break — broke potentially precedent-setting ground when it opened last year.But it has become increasingly dominated by the 90-year-old defendant's failing health.Nazi hunters have taken keen interest in the Demjanjuk saga because it's the first time German authorities have prosecuted such a low-ranking suspect on the premise that, even without evidence of a specific crime, simply working at a death camp was enough to be an accessory to murder.German prosecutors have since opened investigations of two others on a similar basis, both men who were called as witnesses at the Demjanjuk trial — and a conviction could open the way to scores of more such cases.