Hurricane Trudy Weakens Off Mexico as Floods Bring Deaths in Greece and Turkey

Hurricane Trudy weakened to a tropical storm on the morning of Oct. 19 after passing off Mexico's Pacific coast, and hurricane warnings for the coast were lifted.

Trudy was the 22nd named storm of the Pacific season. As a Category 2 hurricane, it sat roughly 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Mexico's coast, with the U.S. National Hurricane Center placing coastal parts of Jalisco, Michoacán and Colima under hurricane warnings, The Guardian reported.

For Sunday, Oct. 18, forecasters expected sustained winds of 60-90 mph in those warned areas, along with 100-150 mm of rain and risks of flooding and landslides. Warnings also covered a dangerous storm surge with damaging waves in areas where winds were blowing onshore along the southwest coast.

The storm's center was expected to move farther away from the coast before passing south of Baja California Sur on Monday and Tuesday, Reuters reported. The National Hurricane Center published public advisories on the storm as it moved near Mexico.

Separately, heavy rain and thunderstorms brought severe flooding to Greece, killing one person across Rhodes, Evia and the Sporades islands. A station on Rhodes recorded 202 mm of rain between 03:30 and 09:50 UTC on Oct. 14, according to the National Observatory of Athens.

On Rhodes, the victim was a 62-year-old driver whose car was swept onto a beach by a torrent of water during a heavy rainstorm on Wednesday, Oct. 14, Reuters reported. Greek regional authorities reported more than 30 rescue and extrication operations. The coastguard said four passenger vehicles were swept into the sea, and on Skiathos flood waters swept away two cars.

In Turkey, five deaths were reported from severe flooding in Istanbul. Heavy rain on Oct. 14 and 15 prompted school closures, flight delays, flooding and landslides across several provinces.

In Istanbul province, 242 mm of rain was recorded in Beykoz, according to the Istanbul metropolitan municipality. Nearly 600 people were rescued after becoming stranded and at least 2,700 people were evacuated from homes. Turkey's state meteorological service forecast a further 40-60 mm of rain for parts of the Marmara and western Black Sea regions.