Severe rainstorm triggers flooding in central Greece, 1 man dies. Police order a traffic ban
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Police ordered vehicles off the streets of three regions in Greece Tuesday as a severe storm hammered the center of the country and some of its islands, turning streets into flooded torrents.
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.
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.
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 movements outdoors 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 millimeters (25.5 to 27.5 inches) of rain over Tuesday and Wednesday, while 550-600 millimeters 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 400 millimeters.
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.
