Storm Bora floods homes, streets in Greek island of Rhodes
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A woman clearing mud off a street following floods caused by Storm Bora in the area of Lalysos, on the island of Rhodes.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ATHENS – Torrential rains flooded homes, businesses and roads in the popular Greek tourist island of Rhodes on Dec 1, forcing the authorities to temporarily ban the use of vehicles as Storm Bora pounded the country for a second day.
A man died on Nov 30 in flash floods, which hit another Greek island in the northern Aegean.
The fire service received more than 650 calls to pump water out of flooded buildings on Rhodes island and evacuated 80 people to safer ground, with the city of Ialysos hit the hardest. No injuries were reported.
Cars and debris were piled up high in the flooded streets of Rhodes, with residents trying to remove mud from their waterlogged properties.
“The situation is tragic, some have lost their homes, some have fled, our cars are in a terrible condition,” said Ms Sofia Kanelli in Ialysos.
Fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Varthakogiannis told Greece’s Skai TV that the bad weather would continue on Dec 2.
The Mediterranean country has been ravaged by floods and wildfires in recent years, with scientists saying that Greece has become a “hot spot” for climate change.
Mr Varthakogiannis said: “The conditions in recent years are different; we have sudden rainfall and sudden floods.”
In 2023, more than 20,000 tourist and locals were forced to flee homes and seaside hotels as wildfires burned for days.
Thunderstorms and heavy rain also interrupted train services in mainland Greece, especially in the centre and north of the country. REUTERS
