Severe flooding reported in Mexican border city

Rescue workers take people away from flooded areas in the Piedras Negras, Mexico, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Intense rains early Saturday have caused floods in large parts of this northern city forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents. (AP Photo/Ilce Ramon)

PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico—Heavy weekend rains have caused severe flooding in the Mexican city of Piedras Negras on the border with Texas. Coahuila state officials said one person died and 10,000 houses were damaged, leaving 40,000 peoples homeless.

State government secretary Armando Luna Canales said Sunday that one of the hardest hit zones was the city center, where many businesses reported flood losses.

Canales says the storm that began Friday afternoon and continued into Saturday dropped 60 percent of the rain usually seen in a full year in Piedras Negras.

The city sits across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass, Texas. Officials in Texas said 17 inches of rain fell there, and some people evacuated as a precaution but were turning to their homes.