By Noel Randewich

VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Thirsty residents of a Mexican city devastated by floods drank from a muddy river and cisterns in their homes as water and food became scarce on_Monday.

Flooding caused by burst river banks last week forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes in the southern city of Villahermosa. But many inhabitants were unable to leave or stayed home fearing their houses would be robbed if they left.

"For lack of water, they're taking it out of cisterns and the river," teacher Janette Aguilera, 32, said of her neighbors.

In an interview with Mexican radio, Tabasco state Gov. Andres Granier said it would be months before all Villahermosa's residents could return.

"We're calculating the problem as one of three months ... before 100 percent of the people can go home," he said.

The land around the city, where bananas, beans and corn are grown, was destroyed. "The countryside is totally lost," Granier said.

Thousands of people have been plucked from rooftops by helicopter or rescued by boat. Large parts of Tabasco resembled a huge lake with just the tops of roofs poking through.

Only one death has been reported in Tabasco, although in the neighboring state of Chiapas, local government officials reported four fatalities on Sunday after rain-swollen rivers burst their banks, damaging thousands of homes and 16 bridges.

Aid was getting through. Volunteer workers piled plastic bags full of beans, cooking oil and rice onto a launch with an outboard motor that headed off down a flooded street.

Cuba will send a plane with 50 doctors to treat Tabasco residents, Granier said. The United States is donating $300,000 to the affected area.

Looting continued and 53 people were arrested in Tabasco, a state prosecution official said.

Housewife Susana Clemente Torres, 45, said, "I went to see my house and I found two people robbing it."

As a gesture of goodwill, President Felipe Calderon, who has visited Tabasco several times in the last few days, said he might pardon the debts of tens of thousands of Tabasco residents who have not paid electricity bills for years in a political protest dating back to the mid-1990s.

The low-lying state is home to some oil production but there have been no reports of output losses. (Additional reporting by Luis Manuel Lopez)

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