‘EXTREME’ WEATHER EVENT
The flooding has laid waste to thousands of hectares of rich agricultural land and farmers have also lost substantial livestock numbers.
“We are devastated. More than 1,500 pigs have drowned – 70 per cent of our farm suffered damage,” said 58-year-old Thomas Kasos.
In the port city of Volos, the water supply has become a problem, since pumping stations and a large part of the supply network were damaged. The health ministry has warned that the water is not suitable for drinking.
“Gastroenteritis cases have appeared and there is a risk of that increasing if people don’t have enough water,” Elena Riza, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Athens School of Medicine, told public broadcaster ERT.
“Authorities need to distribute at least two litres of drinking water to everyone.”
Traffic also remained challenging Saturday with the highway connecting Thessaloniki, the country’s second largest city, and the capital Athens cut off in several places.
The storm, named “Daniel”, struck the central coastal region of Magnesia on Monday and Tuesday before hitting other towns such as Karditsa and Trikala further inland on Wednesday.
FLOODING FOLLOWS WILDFIRES
Experts have described the event as “extreme in terms of the amount of water falling in a space of 24 hours”.
The heavy rains and flooding follow devastating fires in Greece this summer that killed at least 26 people.
As the world warms, the atmosphere contains more water vapour which increases the risk of heavy precipitation in some parts of the world, notably in Asia, Western Europe and Latin America.
Combined with other factors such as urbanisation and land-use planning, these more intense rainfall events contribute to flooding.
Severe flooding in neighbouring Turkey and Bulgaria this week left 12 people dead.
Source: CNA
