More than 30 dead in Saudi storms

Heavy rain and 38 mile-per-hour winds are blamed for more than 30 deaths in western Saudi Arabia, knocking down power poles, billboards and at least one house.

Okaz, a Jeddah based Saudi newspaper said four people died when their house collapsed on Thursday and that others, including a child, were killed by lightning strikes.

A Civil Defence official said 30 people had died in the storm, which local media described as the worst in a decade, eight of them in the port city of Jeddah. Others died in storm-related accidents in nearby Asir province, the official said.

Several Jeddah neighbourhoods were flooded, with water three feet deep in places.