Trudy weakens to a tropical storm off Mexico, one dead in Greek floods, five in Istanbul
Hurricane Trudy, formed in the Pacific, weakened into a tropical storm as it approached Mexico's Pacific coast. Meanwhile, heavy rain and thunderstorms last week caused severe flooding in Greece, where one fatality was reported; five people also died in flooding in Istanbul, Turkey.
In contrast to the relatively quiet Atlantic hurricane season, the Pacific has seen continued activity, with Trudy being the 22nd and latest named system of the season. The category 2 hurricane remained roughly 100 miles (160 km) south-west of the coast of Mexico, meaning the worst of the conditions stayed offshore.
Warnings were nevertheless in full force. The US National Hurricane Center put coastal parts of the states of Jalisco, Michoacan and Colima under hurricane warnings, with sustained winds of up to 60-90 mph forecast on Sunday.
Rainfall totals of 100-150 mm were likely for these areas, prompting warnings of flooding and landslides. Warnings also covered the risk of a dangerous storm surge accompanied by damaging waves in areas of onshore winds across the coast of south-western Mexico.
By Monday morning, Trudy had weakened and been downgraded to a tropical storm, with coastal warnings being lifted — the storm lost its strength before making a direct hit, bringing relief to the coast.
In Greece, heavy rain and thunderstorms last week caused severe flooding and one fatality across Rhodes, Evia and the Sporades islands. According to the National Observatory of Athens, a station in Rhodes recorded 202 mm of rain between 3.30 am and 9.50 am (UTC) on October 14.
Regional authorities reported more than 30 rescue and extrication operations in response to the flooding, while the Greek coastguard said four passenger vehicles were swept into the sea during the storm. On Skiathos, flood waters swept away two cars.
In Turkey, five deaths were reported due to severe flooding in Istanbul last week. Heavy rain on October 14 and 15 prompted school closures, flight delays, disruptive flooding and landslides across several provinces.
According to the Istanbul metropolitan municipality, 242 mm of rain was recorded in Beykoz, a district of Istanbul province. Nearly 600 people were rescued after becoming stranded, and at least 2,700 people were forced to evacuate their homes.
The Turkish state meteorological service issued further alerts for heavy rain and thunderstorms over the weekend across dozens of provinces, with at least an additional 40-60 mm forecast for parts of the Marmara and western Black Sea regions. Taken together, the extreme weather in three countries in the same week painted a picture of growing climate risk.
