Greece floods in pictures as Storm Daniel brings torrential rain after a summer of wildfires
A man has died and another is missing after Greece was hit by heavy rainfall and flooding caused by Storm Daniel, with dramatic pictures showing cars being submerged and water levels reaching above people’s ankles.
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.
“The man died after a wall collapsed near Volos city, probably due to bad weather,” a fire brigade official said, without providing more details. The man, who was reportedly a cattle breeder, had been seeking to reach his animals, Athens News Agency reported.
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 came out (of the car) but the father was carried away and there is a search operation under way right now,” Mr Artopoios said.
People have been urged not to drive in three regions of Greece as the island was hit by torrential rain in its western and central parts.
Traffic was banned in the central town 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 outdoor movements due to the storm.
Local media reported that torrential rainfall caused streams to break their banks and turned roads into rivers, sweeping cars into the sea in the Pilion area.
Greece’s weather service said the Pilion region was forecast to receive about 650 to 700 millimetres (25.5 to 27.5 inches) of rain over Tuesday and Wednesday, while 550-600mm 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 400mm.
The storm was forecast to cause heavy rainfall and storms, accompanied by hail, thunder and strong winds in the Aegean.
The extreme weather comes on the heels of major wildfires that hit Greece over the past few weeks, with some burning for more than two weeks and destroying vast tracts of forest and farmland. More than 20 people were killed in the fires.
Additional reporting by agencies
