Climate & Environment

Hurricane Trudy Threatens Mexican Coast While Greece Suffers Flooding

By Guardian staff reporter

The Pacific hurricane season has seen continued activity, with Hurricane Trudy becoming the 22nd named system. The Category 2 storm remained about 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Mexico’s coast, keeping the most severe conditions offshore. Nevertheless, the U.S. National Hurricane Center issued hurricane warnings for coastal areas of Jalisco, Michoacán and Colima, forecasting sustained winds of 60‑90 mph on Sunday. Rainfall of 100‑150 mm was expected, raising concerns of flooding and landslides. The warnings also highlighted the danger of a storm surge and damaging waves along the southwestern Mexican coast. By Monday morning, Trudy weakened to a tropical storm and the coastal warnings were lifted.

In Greece, heavy rain and thunderstorms caused severe flooding and one death on the islands of Rhodes, Evia and the Sporades last week. The National Observatory of Athens recorded 202 mm of rain at a station on Rhodes between 3:30 am and 9:50 am UTC on 14 October. Regional authorities reported more than 30 rescue and extrication operations, and the Greek Coast Guard said four passenger vehicles were swept into the sea during the storm. On Skiathos, flood waters removed two cars.

Five people died in Istanbul, Turkey, due to severe flooding last week. Heavy rain on 14 and 15 October led to school closures, flight delays, flooding and landslides across several provinces. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality recorded 242 mm of rain 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. The Turkish State Meteorological Service issued additional alerts for heavy rain and thunderstorms over the weekend across dozens of provinces, with an extra 40‑60 mm forecast for parts of the Marmara and western Black Sea regions.