Storms
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Cloud Precipitation

Deadly flash floods kill 7 in Alexandria, Egypt

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© EPAAlexandria would usually only expect to see 5mm of rain during the entire month
At least seven people have died after heavy rain fell in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

Torrential rain began falling in the early hours of Sunday, and was accompanied by strong winds.

A frontal depression has brought unseasonably unsettled weather to much of the eastern Mediterranean.

The northern portion of the depression brought very heavy rain across Turkey.


Through Thursday and Friday, 246mm of rain fell in Marmaris on the south coast. This is five times as much rain as would normally be expected during the entire month of October.


Comment:



Cloud Grey

Heavy sandstorm hits Syrian refugee camp in Jordan

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A heavy sandstorm hit a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan on October 25. A video uploaded by a UNHCR worker in the camp showed a massive sandstorm covering Azraq camp.

Better Earth

One dead, dozens injured as thunderstorms, hail pound Israel

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© Chaya Schulman
Israel's first winter storm entered with a thunderclap on Sunday morning, with unusual weather along Israel's coastal region endangering lives.

A 20-year-old man was critically injured after a wall collapsed on a construction site in Pardes Hana. He was transferred to Hillel Yafeh hospital in Hadera, where he was confirmed dead. "We found an unconscious young man under a pile of cinder blocks, without a pulse and not breathing," Yehuda Haim, an MDA paramedic at the scene, stated to Channel 2.

Dozens injured

A 20 year-old woman was injured late Sunday morning in Hadera after a tree fell on a public bus. She was transported to Hillel Yafeh hospital in serious condition.

In the Samaria community of Har Bracha, a 17 year-old suffered from head trauma after a tent collapsed due to high winds. MDA medics treated him at the scene and transported him to Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva. A 20 year-old woman at the site also suffered light injuries, but was treated at the scene.

Several crane accidents at building sites in the Central Israel and Sharon areas have been reported. Two specific incidents - a crane crash near Tel Aviv's Azrieli towers, and another in Netanya - have reportedly left no injuries.

In Netanya, a power line went up in flames next to a kindergarten; no injuries are reported. A large tree fell in the yard of a kindergarten in Petach Tikva; no injuries are reported.
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© Fire and rescue service

Comment: Israel is really getting battered. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch!

Crane collapses onto busy Tel Aviv road as storms rage


Attention

Crane collapses onto busy Tel Aviv road as storms rage

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As stormy winds, rain and giant hailstones buffet Israel, locals capture terrifying moment large crane crashes onto commuters.

Tel Aviv locals caught the terrifying moment a giant crane crashed down onto a busy Tel Aviv street, as the first major winter storm rages through Israel.

Miraculously, there were no reported injuries.

The footage shows the crane swaying in the gale-force winds before suddenly keeling over and bending in two, crashing onto the street below.

The sudden storm has also caused some localized flooding in central Israel, and at least one other person was critically injured when a wall at a construction site collapsed on top of him due to the extreme weather.


Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill 8 in Pakistan

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Lightning killed eight including three kids on Saturday in Loralai, Sibbi and Dera Ghazi Khan while three other kids were injured in the incidents, reported Dunya News.

In Dera Ghazi Khan's suburb area Pagan, lightning claimed lives of at least two people and injured one.

Meanwhile, one youth died in Loralai's area of B and R Colony while two laborers died in Daki as lightning struck upon a coalmine.

On the other hand, lightning fell on a house in Waam Tangi area of Harnaai, near Sibbi, and killed three kids on the spot while critically injuring other three.

Cloud Precipitation

Canary Islands hit by fierce storms, flash floods, landslides and waterspout

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© Cabildo Gran Canaria / twitter Waterspout off Playa del Ingles, Gran Canaria
Severe weather warnings have been issued across the Canary Islands this weekend as torrential rain brings chaos and forced the closure of schools.

All schools were closed on Friday as storms hit the archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of west Africa.

Spain's meteorological agency AEMET put the region on amber alert and warned that the eastern most islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote were likely to be the worst hit with rain of up to 30 litres per square meter per hour expected.

Those tourists willing to brave the wind and rain and head for the popular resort of Playa del Ingles in Gran Canaria may have spotted an unusual weather phenomenon just off the beach.


Windsock

Massive hurricane Patricia batters Mexico's Pacific coast: Strongest ever recorded in western hemisphere

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© Jonathan Levinson/AFPThe US National Hurricane Center (NHC) downgraded Patricia to a Category 4 storm but said it remained an ‘extremely dangerous major hurricane’.
There were no reported casualties and officials said the damage might not be as catastrophic as feared

One of the strongest ever hurricanes lashed western Mexico with rain and winds of up to 165 mph (266 km/h), causing chaos in coastal towns and resorts but less damage than feared before weakening on Saturday as it moved inland.

Mowing down trees, flooding streets and battering buildings, Hurricane Patricia plowed into Mexico as a Category 5 storm on Friday before grinding inland, where it began to lose power in the mountains that rise up along the Pacific coast.

Around 15,000 tourists were hurriedly evacuated from the beach resort of Puerto Vallarta as people scrambled to get away from the advancing hurricane, whose massive swirl over Mexico could be seen clearly from space.

"It sparked chaos here, it ruined a lot of things, took down the roof, lots of trees. Things are in a bad state where we work," said Domingo Hernandez, a hotel worker in the resort of Barra de Navidad near to the major port of Manzanillo.

Thousands of residents and tourists ended up in improvised shelters but there were no early reports of fatalities and many felt they had escaped lightly.



Windsock

Hurricane Patricia: Thousands evacuated as 325km/h winds blast Mexico

hurricane Patricia
© Jonathan Levinson / AFP A truck drives along a flooded street in Manzanillo, Colima state, Mexico on October 23, 2015, during hurricane Patricia
The strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere has struck Mexico's Pacific Coast, destroying houses and forcing thousands to evacuate. Heavy flooding and mud-slides are also feared along the hurricane's path.

Hurricane Patricia grew at an "incredible rate" on Friday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said. It became a hurricane overnight, carrying maximum sustained winds of about 200 miles per hour (325 km per hour) as it moved north-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph).

Comment: See also: Hurricane Patricia becomes strongest hurricane ever recorded


Cloud Precipitation

Flash flood sweeps away mini bus in Pakistan

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Mini bus swept away
A mini bus taking Pakistan's Lowari Pass was caught on camera getting carried away by a flash flood while its 10 passengers fled to safety.

The video, posted to YouTube, shows the mini bus being carried away by rushing waters Lowari Top Dir Upper area amid flash flood Monday.

The bus' 10 passengers can be seen climbing out of the vehicle and rushing to the safety of the shore as the vehicle picks up speed in the water.

The video ends with the bus getting stuck on small but quickly-moving waterfall.


Cloud Precipitation

Heavy rain and hail hits West Texas; floats away travel trailers, mobile home from RV park

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Central El Paso resident Serina Hernandez trudges through deep hail on Edsel Connecticut. which fell during a storm Wednesday afternoon, October 21, 2015, in El Paso, Texas.
Heavy rain in West Texas on Thursday led to flooding that floated several travel trailers and a double-wide mobile home away from an RV park.

Upton County Sheriff Dan Brown said nobody was in the trailers during the flooding in Rankin, 60 miles south of Odessa. The occupants safely evacuated.

A hailstorm with the same slow-moving system blanketed parts of El Paso on Wednesday. The rain is expected to increase in intensity Friday and Saturday as Hurricane Patricia in the eastern Pacific Ocean makes landfall Friday near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and moves north toward Texas.

Odessa Emergency Management said crews there on Thursday conducted about 30 swift-water rescues from stranded vehicles and flooded structures. Forecasters say 3.7 inches of rain soaked Odessa, flooding more than a dozen homes. Midland recorded at least 2.2 inches of rain. Up to 3 inches of rain was reported in the cattle country west of Fort Worth.