Large parts of the city of Volos, with 140,000 inhabitants, were left without power supply due to new floods. Parts of a local hospital were also flooded, but it remained operational. To rescue more than 250 people from flooded areas, firefighters used inflatable boats and special vehicles.
The new storm called “Elias” had already caused flooding on the island of Euboea, near Athens. Traffic was therefore restricted in the north of the island. The Phthiotida region also suffered from “Elijah”.
“Our thoughts today are on Volos and Euboea,” said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. According to forecasts, the storm should weaken from Thursday night. Emergency services remained operational, fire department spokesman Vassilios Vathrakoyanis told Greek television station ERT.
At the beginning of September, heavy rains caused by storm “Daniel” caused massive flooding in central Greece. 17 people were killed. In Volos, the drinking water supply failed for two weeks and the city has not yet completely repaired the damage caused by the “Daniel” floods.
“It was only this week that the authorities finished cleaning the affected areas,” Eleni Konstantatou, who lives in Volos, told AFP. When it started raining on Wednesday, she “didn’t expect the area to flood again.” Now people in Volos are “back where they started”.
As a result of “Daniel”, agricultural and livestock areas were also flooded. Greek Agriculture Minister Lefteris Avgenakis said on Wednesday that cleanup teams had already removed more than 180,000 dead farm animals.
However, more than a dozen farms are still inaccessible due to destroyed roads. The flood also destroyed the production of cotton, corn, wheat, apples and kiwi.
After the catastrophe, the Athens government was accused of mismanagement of the crisis. She promised two billion euros in reconstruction aid. Before the floods, Greece had already been hit by serious forest fires this summer.