Storm “Daniel” is currently causing massive weather changes in Greece, and the flooding situation has worsened. As is now known, two Austrians are also missing.
“At this time, we regret to confirm that two Austrian citizens are missing in Pelion, which was severely affected by the storms. The Austrian Embassy in Athens and the Honorary Consulate in Volos are in constant contact with local authorities to provide the best possible support in the search for the missing persons,” the Foreign Ministry confirmed.
The couple probably fled to the hill
According to the portal “ekahimerini.com”, it concerns a newlywed couple from Graz whose holiday home was washed away in the Pelion region on Tuesday. Accordingly, the couple fled to a hill to escape the waters. They have been missing ever since.
The flooding situation in the heavy rain-affected areas of Central Greece continues to deteriorate. It continued to rain in the region of Thessaly – the water had split the country in half, Greek media reported. The country’s main highway between Athens and Thessaloniki has been closed for a distance of 200 kilometers since Tuesday evening.
Region almost completely cut off
The port city of Volos is almost completely cut off from the environment. Access roads have been destroyed or flooded and ferry services have also been suspended. The drinking water in the supermarkets also ran out: there has been no electricity and water supply for days.
“The flat land of Thessaly is a huge lake,” fire service spokesperson Giannis Artopoios told ERTnews on Thursday afternoon. In many places the water is more than two meters high. Meanwhile, the army also uses inflatable boats. About 700,000 people live in the entire region of Thessaly, almost all of whom were affected by the flood. “We had over 5,000 emergency calls within 36 hours, something like this has never happened before,” said Artopoios. He asked people to keep calling, but urged patience for those not in immediate danger.
It keeps raining
The official number of dead still stands at three, but no conclusive information could be given on the number of missing persons. Too many villages have not yet been reached and people in the flooded areas often have dead mobile phone batteries and are unable to communicate with the outside world.
Although heavy rain and storms continued to rise in the affected region on Thursday and levels continued to rise, meteorologists are generally cautious: the rain should stop Thursday evening.
In many places the water reaches to the roofs
Then the enormous damage caused by the severe storms should be fully visible for the first time. The mayors of the affected areas spoke to the Greek media about collapsed roads and bridges, cut power connections, but also destroyed houses and businesses. The damage could run into the billions.
In the city of Karditsa, the water reached the roofs of the houses in many places, forcing residents to save themselves on the roofs. “The water is up to four meters high in some places,” a resident of a nearby town told Mega broadcaster. Her village is inaccessible, the whole plain is under water and rescuers cannot come. “Maybe with helicopters, but where should they land? There is no country!” said a man. Aerial use is currently not possible due to difficult weather conditions and wind gusts, according to fire spokesman Artopoios.
Source: Krone
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