ATHENS: At least three people died and four were missing on Wednesday after torrential rain flooded homes and businesses and the storm destroyed infrastructure in central Greece, the fire department said.
Since Monday, Storm Daniel has caused landslides, destroyed a bridge, brought down power poles and washed away dozens of cars in muddy waters, days after a deadly two-week wildfire died out in the north.
The body of an elderly woman was found Wednesday near the seaside community in the southern region of Pelion near the port city of Volos on the Pagasetic Gulf, the fire service said. It later said a man had been hit by a vehicle in the Karditsa area, bringing the death toll from bad weather in Greece to three.
On Tuesday, a man died after a wall collapsed in bad weather in Volos, and around 94 residents were evacuated to safety after torrential rain damaged part of their nursing home.
A news agency reporter said an overflowing river near the nursing home had swallowed a road and flooded the train station in Volos.
The authorities were searching for the four missing people, the Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilias said at a televised press conference.
About 10 people were trapped on the banks of a torrent in southern Pelion, local mayor Michalis Mitzikos told Skai television.
British travel company Jet2 (JET2.L) said on Wednesday it was canceling all flights and holidays to the Aegean island of Skiathos, the closest to Volos, until September 12 because of the weather. The company already cancelled six flights earlier this week.
According to Greece, this past year’s rainfall was the wettest on record.
“The rainfall yesterday was very intense, unprecedented,” said Vasilis Batsios, 44, in Volos. “It was non-stop for 24 hours and there was a lot of water, the amount of water was unbelievable.”
The volume of water that fell on Pelion on Tuesday was equivalent to a year’s rainfall in London, meteorologist George Tsatrafyllias said on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.
Police issued a traffic warning for the towns of Trikala and Karditsa on Wednesday as the storm was not expected to weaken until Thursday.
About 158 vehicles and hundreds of emergency crews are operating in other areas affected by the downpours across Greece to help people in danger or with health problems, Kikilias said.
At least five people have been killed in northwest Turkey after heavy rains triggered flash floods, Turkish state broadcaster TRT Haber reported.
