Torrential rains lash C. America, claim at least 30 lives

MEXICO CITY, Mexico — At least 30 people died and thousands were forced to evacuate their homes as storms and heavy rainfall lashed Central America, local officials said, with the downpours flooding rivers, destroying homes, triggering landslides and cutting off communities.

In Mexico, authorities forecast heavy rain across most of the country and torrential downpours across sections of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, as well as further inland, bringing lightning, strong winds, possible hail and flooding around rivers.

The rains caused authorities to evacuate about 80 people from a children's hospital in Oaxaca state on Thursday, but also brought welcome replenishment to drought-hit reservoirs across the country, now at about a third of their capacity.