Greece: One dead, one missing, in torrential rain
Torrential rains have flooded homes and roads in many parts of Greece and a man died after a wall collapsed in the bad weather, the fire brigade said on Tuesday.
Storm Daniel has battered western and central part of the country since Monday, prompting almost 700 calls to the fire service to pump out water, remove fallen trees and transport people to safety just days after a deadly wildfire which has burned for more than two weeks was brought under control in the north of the country.
The fire department said one man was killed in Volos when a wall buckled and fell on him, while another man was reported missing, believed to have been swept away by floodwaters.
According to the AMNA news agency, the wall collapsed when the man, a cattle breeder, was trying to reach his animals.
Footage from state broadcaster ERT showed cars in Volos, a port city on the Pagasetic Gulf, washed away by torrential rain onto muddy shores.
A man has been missing in Volos after his car was swept away by the rainstorm, fire brigade spokesperson Ioannis Artopoios told Skai television.
“His son got out [of the car] but the father was carried away and there is a search operation under way right now,” Artopoios said.
Authorities have restricted traffic in the wider area of Volos, the nearby mountain region of Pilion and on the island of Skiathos until the storm subsides, police said.
Authorities also sent alerts to cellphones in several other areas of central Greece, the Sporades island chain and the island of Evia, warning people to limit their movements outdoors due to the storm.
The national weather service said the Pilion region was forecast to receive about 650 to 700 millimeters of rain over Tuesday and Wednesday, while 550-600 millimeters were forecast for the central town of Karditsa.
The weather service noted that the average annual rainfall in the capital of Athens region is around 400 millimeters.
The storm was forecast to cause heavy rainfall and storms, accompanied by hail, thunder and strong winds in the Aegean.
The government said it has requested Copernicus, the EU’s Earth observation program, to map of the areas in Magnesia that has been flooded.
Flash floods in Greece in 2017 killed 25 people and left hundreds homeless.
Source: Reuters, AP, AMNA
