1 of 1 Greece: Storm Elijah dumped months’ worth of rain in less than a day.
Greece: Storm Elias dumped several months’ worth of rain in less than a day. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Greece has not yet fully recovered from the forest fires that devastated the country in August and is now suffering the effects of torrential rains. For the second time this month, a strong storm hit parts of the center of the country yesterday (28), flooding thousands of houses.
Storm Elias caused extensive flooding in the city of Volos and left hundreds of people trapped in surrounding mountain villages. The fire department carried out several rescue and evacuation operations.
Rescue teams were also searching a mountainous area for the pilot of a private helicopter who disappeared in bad weather. Authorities said there were no confirmed deaths this time but the other storm in early September saw 16 deaths, says Euronews.
“The whole of Volos has turned into a lake,” the city’s mayor, Achilleas Beos, told state television. “Human lives are in danger. Even I remained trapped and 80% of the city is without power. I don’t know where God found so much water. It’s like the story of Noah’s Ark.”
A total of 280 people had to be rescued from their homes and taken to safe areas, the local fire department said.
Volos residents used plastic buckets and brooms to remove mud from their homes and protect their belongings. “I have never seen anything like this,” said Apostolis Dafereras, 83, who has lived in Volos since 1955.
The European Union has pledged more than two billion euros in financial support to Greece to help it recover from the damage caused by summer wildfires and current floods. At the same time, Greece is negotiating the terms of further aid packages to adapt to climate change.
“Volos was hit by a prolonged storm for the second time. The country’s positive development has been overshadowed by natural disasters caused by climate change,” said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who vowed to rebuild infrastructure, roads and bridges destroyed by floods.