Torrential rains kill 20

HYDERABAD, India, May 1 (UPI) -- Twenty people were killed in southern Indian in a storm that brought lightning, high winds and torrential rain, officials said Sunday.

A police spokesman said the wind uprooted trees and destroyed houses in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. At least 10 of the dead were killed by lightning strikes.

The rains also damaged electricity lines and destroyed standing crops.

India's four-month monsoon season begins in June, and Andhra Pradesh is usually dry at this time of year. Two years ago, a winter storm killed 50 people in the state and flattened 300,000 acres of crops.