Researchers recorded a record-breaking wind gust as Hurricane Melissa lashed the Caribbean in late October.

Rats and droppings were found at Prästholmsskolan in Boden, Sweden; control measures are underway and the school says it acted immediately. The principal notes rodents have been sighted on the school grounds.

A powerful, ongoing storm in Western Alaska has flooded communities, destroyed homes and left some residents injured by flying debris. Officials say rescue efforts are underway after floodwaters in multiple communities swept homes off their foundations. The remnants of Typhoon Halong tracked farther east than expected, slamming into the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta coast early on Sunday morning. Officials said Sunday afternoon that the hardest hit communities appeared to be Kipnuk, Kwigillingok and Napakiak.

Communities are tallying up damage from a severe Bering Sea storm that brought flood warnings to a vast swath of Alaska's western coast.

Flooding had already begun by Wednesday afternoon, and the weather service forecast said water could rise as high as 10 feet above the high tide line. Flood waters are expected to peak around 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Flash floods kill an average of 127 people annually in the U.S., and nearly half of all deaths involve vehicles. People don’t realize that it doesn’t take much water to strand or even sweep away a car.