First forest fires, now masses of water and hail: Greece is once again exposed to extreme weather. Several places are flooded and the weather service is forecasting record rainfall. One person died.
Storm “Daniel” has caused flooding in several parts of Greece. A man died in central Greece, a spokesman for the fire department confirmed to the public broadcaster ERT. Another man is missing.
Because of the heavy rain, police banned vehicles from the streets of the city of Volos and the nearby mountainous region of Pelio. Exceptions applied to ambulances and road patrol vehicles. In several other areas of central Greece, the Sporades island chain and the island of Euboea, authorities also sent warning messages to cell phones and urged people not to go outdoors because of the storm.
The weather, which is unusually rainy and stormy for this time of year, is expected to get worse in places over the course of the day and will last until Thursday, warned meteorologists from the state weather service Meteo. Central Greece and the Peloponnese are particularly affected.
Record amounts of rain expected within two days
The Greek Meteorological Service said rainfall amounts of 650 to 700 liters of rain per square meter were forecast for the Pelion region today and tomorrow. In the city of Karditsa, 550 to 600 liters of rain were expected. The weather service pointed out that the average rainfall in the region around the capital Athens is 400 liters per year.
The power went out on the island of Corfu and there were problems with the operation of the airport there. On the Sporades islands of Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonnisos there was lightning and thunder every second at night, and in the Elis region in the west of the Peloponnese peninsula, hail destroyed parts of the upcoming olive harvest.
As a result of the heavy rainfall, there is no longer any risk of forest fires in most of the country for the first time in months. The fires burned for more than two weeks and killed more than 20 people. Last year, Greece was already affected by severe autumn storms .
Source : Tages Schau