Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Atlantic Ocean:

Tropical Storm Erin weakened into a tropical depression Friday as it moved west across the Atlantic from Africa. The storm is the fifth to receive a name in the Atlantic hurricane season.

As of 1500 GMT Friday, it was 870 kilometres (540 miles) west of the Cape Verde islands.

In the Pacific Ocean:

The Central Pacific Hurricane Centre is tracking three systems located in the Central Pacific.

The strongest is Tropical Storm Pewa, which was located 1275 miles SW of Kauaʻi at around 8 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 16, 2013, according to the CPHC. TS Pewa was last tracked moving WNW at 13 mph, and had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, according to a CPHC forecast.

Forecasters say Pewa is the first tropical cyclone to develop within the Central North Pacific Basin in the 2013 season.

Floods close Trans-Siberian railway

Russian Railways on Thursday closed a section of the legendary Trans-Siberian railway because if serious flooding, potentially delaying a train en route from Moscow to the far eastern city of Vladivostok.

Flood water washed away some of the stone ballast supporting the track in the far eastern Amur region after a nearby river reached a “critical level”, Russian Railways said in a statement on its website.

Repair workers were propping up the affected area with concrete slabs and adding more crushed stones after the track was closed at a distance of around 7,500 kilometres (4,700 miles) from the capital. The repairs were expected to cause delays to the Moscow-Vladivostok passenger train, the railway monopoly said. The train left Moscow on Wednesday evening and was due to arrive in Vladivostok almost a week later.

Extreme flooding in the region has seen the emergency ministry evacuate more than 13,000 people from their homes. The Trans-Siberian railway, known as the Transsib in Russian, is the most reliable means of transport across the country, which is still not fully connected by modern motorways. The route betweeen Moscow and Vladivostok covers 9,300 kilometres (5,800 miles).

NewsBytes:

A sandstorm mixed with heavy rain hit the Wilayat of Mahout in the Governorate of Al Wusta, Oman. Local flooding also hit Wilayat in Al Mudhaibi.

Torrential rain ad thunderstorms in Bermuda have caused flooding and wide spread power outages. More than 1,300 homes in Southampton and Warwick are without power due to lightning strikes. According to the Bermuda Weather Service, a temperature of 21.6 C has been recorded which is the lowest since records began.

More flooding is expected in Sudan, the country's chief weather forecaster warned on Thursday, after severe rains have killed 53 people and affected about 200,000.