Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

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NewsBytes:

USA -Sky River to Bust Northern California Drought This Week

California forecasters are prepping the state's northern cities for a switch from extreme drought to drenching rain and damaging winds starting today.

An incoming atmospheric river could deliver at least 10 inches (25 centimetres) of rain in coastal and inland mountains, and 5 inches (13 cm) in valley areas, according to the National Weather Service. Atmospheric rivers are narrow currents of warm, moist air that transport huge amounts of water vapour from the tropics toward cooler latitudes. The water is nearly invisible, just concentrated vapour that later condenses into rain and snow. That happens when the current hits land and the air is lifted and cooled over mountains like California's Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada.

Zimbabwe - A single bolt of lightning has claimed lives of six children and a woman in Zimbabwe. The seven were sheltering in two thatched huts when the lightning struck in Mugwinyi village in Bikita districton Monday.

Greece Update - Experts on Wednesday continued assessing the damage done by flash floods in Epirus, northwestern Greece, over the last few days. By Wednesday afternoon they had recorded damage to 329 buildings, 229 of which are homes, in Arta. Another 43 buildings, of which 16 are homes, were damaged in Ioannina. The floods, as well as rockfalls, caused widespread damage to the road network in the area.

Turkey - Turkish authorities blame Bulgaria for failing to take measures in its reservoirs after the country's floodgates opened following torrential rains that inundated the neighbouring Turkish province of Edirne. Turkey is at odds with Bulgaria after floodwaters from neighbouring Bulgaria engulfed the country's northwestern border province of Edirne. Authorities told reporters that three rivers in the province broke their banks as water levels suddenly increased in the wake of the opening of reservoir floodgates in Bulgaria after last week's heavy rainfall. Floodgates in Bulgarian dams have frequently caused problems for Edirne, situated right next to the Balkan country, but this time, Turkey has adopted harsh rhetoric against the neighbouring country.