Brief but intense rainstorms flood streets and homes in Athens and northern Greece

The short but intense spells of rain and thunderstorms on Monday night and Tuesday led to flooding of major streets around Athens and in Thessaloniki, and trees being uprooted in northern Greece.

No injuries have been reported so far, but in Ptolemaida in northern Greece and nearby villages, flooding in basements of homes led to additional firefighters called to help from the regions of Ipirus and West Macedonia – 50 firefighters with 20 trucks in total since Monday night. In all, water was pumped out in 45 homes, basements, and professional spaces. In a farming village 10km from Ptolemaida, the village of Ardassa saw 77mm of rainfall in nearly an hour, and reported flooded agricultural fields, irrigation channels and overwhelmed drainage channels.

Further south, some mountain villages in Trikala had no electricity, while in Kalabaka firefighters were pumping water out of flooded basements.

Thessaloniki had a thunderstorm and hail. Despite the brief storm, eastern Thessaloniki roads were flooded. The Fire Brigade was also called in to pump water out of basements and remove trees in Central and East Macedonia, including parts of Chalkidiki peninsula.

In Athens, flooding temprorarily shut down Pireos Street in both directions, before police ordered its reopening. Problems with flooding however were reported on the coastal Posidonos Avenue going toward Voula, and on Vouliagmenis Avenue, also going toward Voula, with police shutting down sections of the major highways to traffic.

Source: amna.gr