Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

In the Southern Hemisphere: Tropical cyclone (tc) 03s (Ava), located approximately 429 nm east-northeast of Europa Island, is tracking southwestward at 12 knots.

Tropical cyclone (tc) 04s (Irving), located approximately 1108 nm east-southeast of Diego Garcia, is tracking westward at 12 knots.

Newsbytes:

Germany - Rivers swollen by days of rainfall and melting snow are rising in western Germany, with floodwaters spilling into some cities and towns. Shipping was suspended Friday on the upper reaches of the Rhine River, and a similar measure might be taken in the Cologne area over the weekend. Shipping on the Moselle River and the Neckar River, two of the Rhine's tributaries, had already been halted. A road in downtown Heidelberg was closed on Friday after the Neckar spilled over its banks. In St. Blasien in Germany's Black Forest, houses were evacuated on Thursday night because of flooding and a landslide.

Switzerland - The road to the Adelboden ski resort in Switzerland was swept away by a rain-induced mudslide while one skier in the French Alps died after being hit by a falling tree.

China - Central and eastern China have been dealing with heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions since Tuesday. Downed power lines scrapped power in Suizhou, a city of 2.5 million people. The snowfall killed at least 10 people. The hardest-hit provinces were Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Anhui and Jiangsu. More than 16 inches of snow fell in parts of Henan, Hubei and Anhui. About 200 homes were destroyed by the blizzards.

Congo - Floods and mudslides killed 44 people in shantytowns in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa, the third largest metropolis in Africa. Heavy rains hit Kinshasa on Thursday, starting in the early morning and continuing for hours. The floods had caused a large amount of damage and had destroyed several houses.