Local residents use kayaks to navigate streets in in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz state, as the Papaloapan River overflows and floods homes in eastern Mexico. Mexico, with its extensive Pacific and Atlantic coastlines, has suffered the effects of at least four cyclones during the current hurricane season, which takes place every year between May and November. The effects of these natural phenomena are also combined with the arrival of cold fronts from the north of the continent. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES