Villages evacuated in Greece as country battered by storms: ‘It’s like the story of Noah’s Ark’

‘I don’t know where God found so much water. It’s like the story of Noah’s Ark’

At least eight Greek villages were ordered to be evacuated after another powerful storm hit the central parts of the country, flooding rural areas and sweeping away roads.

The storm Elias caused extensive flooding in the central city of Volos, turning it “into a lake”. Elias comes less than a month after the deaths and destruction caused by Storm Daniel.

“All of Volos has turned into a lake,” the city’s mayor Achilleas Beos told state television, according to The Associated Press.

The fire service carried out multiple rescues and evacuations on Wednesday as torrential rains prompted by the storm left large areas cut off.

Hundreds of people were left stranded nearby mountain villages, authorities said.

“People’s lives are in danger,” said Mr Beos, adding that he himself “remained trapped”.

“Eighty per cent 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,” he said.

Apart from the eight villages evacuated near Volos, residents in large parts were urged to stay indoors on Wednesday as floodwaters rose and road traffic was banned in Volos.

The worst damage was reported from Volos and the island of Evia, where people’s homes were flooded with mud-water and large parts faced power cuts.

Photos and videos showed floodwaters gushing through the streets after the torrential downpour.

Significant flooding in Volos, Greece this evening.....👀🌊#ClimateActionNow pic.twitter.com/DiW3BY6i6v

— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) September 27, 2023

“I have never seen anything like this,” Apostolis Dafereras, 83, who has lived in a suburb of the Volos since 1955, told AP.

So far, there have been no reports of death but flooding has damaged several roads, homes and bridges.

The new storm comes just weeks after flooding prompted by the deadly Storm Daniel struck the same area, killing 16 people, and causing more than €2bn euros ($2.3bn) in damage to farms and infrastructure.

It also follows deadly wildfires that caused record destruction in the summer.

Repeatedly battered by extreme weather events, the Greek government on Wednesday declared that adapting to climate crisis has become a national priority.

“I will restate the obvious: The frequency of (weather) assaults due to the climate crisis is something that requires us to integrate civil protection (in our response),” prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told a Cabinet meeting Wednesday.

“Adaptation to the climate crisis is a fundamental priority in all our policies.”