Rescuers search for victims of a landslide 170 kilometres west of Guatemala City on Friday. Guatemala remains under red alert with 56.000 people affected by torrential rains.
Photograph by: Getty Images, Agence France-Presse
Two storm systems left at least 38 people dead and forced tens of thousands from their homes after heavy rains battered Central America and Mexico's Pacific coast, officials said Friday.
Guatemala alone accounted for 21 killed, according to local authorities and emergency services.
The toll in Mexico rose to eight Friday with three more reported dead from flooding and landslides in the wake of Hurricane Jova, which hit the Pacific coast as a category two hurricane Tuesday before weakening to a tropical storm.
Torrential rains destroyed and carried away bridges in Guatemala, where authorities confirmed 21 deaths and 55,000 people affected by a tropical depression, which hit Central America at the start of the week.
Two more were missing as cleanup efforts continued, rescue services said.
Rescuers recovered six bodies in Nicaragua and three in El Salvador, while Honduras and Costa Rica reported damage to property.
Mexican authorities insisted only small repairs were needed to some venues for the Pan American Games, which began Friday in Guadalajara, more than 100 kilometres from the Pacific coast.
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