Cancun, Mexico - The torrential rains that fell in the last few hours in the southeastern Mexican state of Quintana Roo, brought on by a tropical wave, abruptly halted outdoor tourist activities, caused ports to be closed to small boats and flooded much of the state.

Municipal authorities on Monday launched Operation Storm to activate contingency plans for flooded areas and safeguard those living in vulnerable districts.

Maritime authorities stopped the sailing of small boats throughout the Mexican Caribbean as a preventive measure and hoisted red flags to warn bathers of the risk of powerful waves.

The heavy rains and high winds brought on by the tropical wave began Saturday afternoon.

Local police reports said that Saturday afternoon Fernando Perez Estrada, 48, from the U.S. state of Illinois, was drowned after rescuing his son, who had been carried out to sea by a wave.

According to witnesses, the 5-year-old boy was playing in the sand very close to the water when he was swept away by a large wave, and though Fernando Perez managed to save his son, he had a fainting fit that kept him from getting back on shore and was drowned in the waves.

Emergency-management officials in Quintana Roo said that more than 50 millimeters (2 inches) of rain have fallen on the Yucatan Peninsula.

The weather phenomenon is moving at 25 kph (16 mph) to the west-northwest and is expected to continue affecting the Yucutan Peninsula for the next 48 hours, "likely supporting strong showers/thunderstorms along with gusty winds when its intensity could increase as it enters the Gulf of Mexico," according to the National Hurricane Center.

Separately, some 495 homes were affected by the overflowing of a sewage canal as the result of powerful rains that lashed central Mexico over the weekend, a source in the teeming municipality of Nezahualcoyotl on the outskirts of Mexico City told Efe on Monday.

On Sunday night central Mexico was hit by a downpour that lasted several hours, causing the Xochiaca drain to overflow and inundate houses with waste water in about 10 streets of the Sol neighborhood.

In some homes the sewage was 60 centimeters (24 inches) deep, the source said, adding that some 4,000 people have been affected, of whom about 100 were taken to two shelters set up by the Nezahualcoyotl town council.

Since Monday morning more than 600 workers have gone to the affected area, including rescue teams, firefighters and emergency-management personnel, to aid the people affected, who are not only being given food but also tetanus shots and vaccinations to prevent infections.

Workers dug a channel to drain away the waste water and have so far succeeded in lowering the water level by some 40 centimeters (16 inches), the source said.

He also said that if the rains should continue, as is forecast for the country's approaching rainy season, the channel will keep sewage waters in the Xochiaca drainage system from again overflowing into residential areas. EFE