Nuevo Laredo (Mexico), July 13 (IANS) At least 12 people have been killed and more than 100,000 affected in Mexico’s northern border state of Tamaulipas in the country’s worst rainy season in living memory, EFE reported Sunday quoting officials. Civil defence director in Tamaulipas, Salvador Trevino Salinas said Saturday 12 people have been killed in the rain and 42,000 homes have been washed away in flood.

Unofficial estimates put the toll at 20.

He added that some 281 rural communities and towns have been cut off and more than 140 localities in urban areas of Tamaulipas are under floodwater.

Mexico has been hit by 184 storms in the past two months with rainfall that exceeded the average by more than 50 percent, the country’s national water authority said.

The rainy season in Mexico normally spreads from May to mid-October.