Strong winds, heavy rains pound Sweden

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STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Strong winds and torrential downpours in Sweden have resulted in power losses for some 11,000 households in the country, officials said Tuesday.

The outages mostly affected central and southern Sweden, where rainfall amounts considered normal for an entire month fell in a single day, the Swedish news agency TT reported. For instance, the city of Helsingborg was drenched by 2.4 inches of rain Monday night.

The winds began to let up Tuesday "at least on the west coast," Sylvia Lindstrom of meteorological agency SMHI told the news agency. "It is still raining, however, in a lot of places even if the rain is starting to ease off."

Rail traffic was also affected by the deluge, coming to a complete halt in parts of Sweden, TT said.

Meanwhile, rescue operations were continuing in the North Sea, where a 58-year-old German man was believed to have fallen overboard from his sailboat and drowned during the storm, The Local reported.