greece in mourning as several still missing after deadly flood
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Greece in mourning as several still missing after deadly flood

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Greece in mourning as several still missing after deadly flood

Greece's civil protection authority said heavy rainfall was complicating search and rescue efforts in Mandra.
Mandra - Arab Today

Greece was in mourning Thursday as rescue crews tried to locate several people missing in a flood that killed 16 people near the capital, with more thunderstorms forecast until the weekend.

Authorities said at least four people were still unaccounted for in Mandra, one of three towns about 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Athens hit by a freak flood early Wednesday.

The latest victim, a 50-year-old man, was found in a mud-filled basement. It took rescue crews over a day to reach his home.

The poor weather is set to continue until the weekend, raising concerns for hundreds of people with waterlogged homes.

Late on Thursday, the capital was lashed by another thunderstorm and firefighters in northern Greece said they were called to drain water from over 400 homes.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who declared three days of national mourning after the disaster, said he felt "shock" after touring the area Thursday.

"This is clearly a rare and extreme weather phenomenon," Tsipras said in a statement.

"But this extreme phenomenon had these effects because of (decades of) accumulated problems and deficiencies in infrastructure and zone planning," he said.

Experts have said ill-conceived building in the area -- some of it by local municipal authorities -- meant this was a disaster waiting to happen.

Corrective drainage works for the area were approved in 2016 but work has yet to begin.

Meteorologists said Wednesday's heavy rainfall was concentrated on a nearby mountain that had been devastated by wildfires in 2016, facilitating the ensuing mudslide.

Neighbouring areas saw much less rain, they said.

"It was like a tsunami," Evangelos Kolovetzos, a local shopowner, told AFP.

Local resident Spyros Karambikas told ERT television that he saw a man being swept away by the torrent "like the wind blows away a napkin."

"The water in my house rose to 3.5 metres (11.5 feet)," said Sotiris Loukopoulos, whose pharmacy is the only one still open in Mandra.

"Five pharmacies were destroyed, we are still operating because we are on higher ground," he told Athens municipal radio, as residents tried to clean their yards with shovels and hoses.

Over a hundred firefighters aided by army machinery were mounting search and rescue efforts in Mandra, Nea Peramos and Megara, the semi-rural communities west of Athens hit hardest by the deluge.

The operation unfolded alongside gutted, debris-strewn streets, overturned cars and hundreds of flooded homes and shops as utility crews laboured to restore power and water services.

Emergency crews used pumps to drain water as police reinforcements were sent to the area to prevent looting.

Four people were arrested on Thursday after allegedly attempting to steal electrical appliances from a factory, state agency ANA said.

Twelve people are hospitalised, one in serious condition.

- Illegal buildings -

As a first step, the state will cover the funeral expenses, the interior ministry said.

Food, water and blankets have been rushed to the area, hit by what locals have described as the worst flooding in 20 years.

Some elderly people died inside their homes while other people were trapped in their cars as they drove to work. Two bodies were found at sea.

Parts of the area are without water and electricity for a second day, and much of the damage will take days to repair, though fortunately the sewage system is still functioning, the state water company said.

A 364-cabin cruise ship has been commissioned to shelter some of the homeless if necessary, the merchant marine ministry said.

Once a rural area, Mandra and neighbouring towns were rapidly transformed into a logistics hub for factories and warehouses over the last 20 years, with the new construction covering riverbeds that would have provided natural drainage.

A prosecutor has ordered an investigation into building violations in the area, where two people had already died in flooding that struck in 1996.

"There is a bad precedent with public works in this country," Interior Minister Panos Skourletis told Antenna TV.

Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said "Illegal building was a response to huge social and economic inequality."

Source: AFP

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

greece in mourning as several still missing after deadly flood greece in mourning as several still missing after deadly flood

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

greece in mourning as several still missing after deadly flood greece in mourning as several still missing after deadly flood

 



GMT 15:36 2017 Monday ,09 January

Major EU-GCC meeting in Riyadh today

GMT 17:19 2016 Thursday ,22 December

KFMC surgeons remove 28 kg tumor from woman’s uterus

GMT 17:33 2017 Wednesday ,16 August

Damac reports decline in property development sales

GMT 09:16 2018 Monday ,01 January

Seoul leaning towards military measures

GMT 01:05 2017 Wednesday ,20 December

No guarantees on French-German initiative on Ukraine

GMT 21:00 2017 Sunday ,17 September

Saif bin Zayed approves adoption of 'Emirati Reader'

GMT 02:10 2017 Thursday ,05 January

Bahrain Stock Index Drops 3.47 Points

GMT 02:05 2017 Thursday ,28 September

July24th-August23rd

GMT 04:17 2017 Saturday ,11 November

Laulala out to prove All Blacks worth against France

GMT 02:42 2017 Friday ,14 July

NATO Tripoli strike kills civilians

GMT 05:47 2017 Wednesday ,18 January

Mohamed bin Zayed attends opening of ADSW 2017

GMT 05:40 2016 Saturday ,26 November

Oil falls 2% on OPEC cut uncertainty

GMT 16:48 2016 Tuesday ,11 October

Greek police escort refugee children to school

GMT 09:42 2017 Saturday ,12 August

Prince Charles Promoted to Highest Military Rank

GMT 13:07 2017 Monday ,25 September

Iran blocks all Iraqi Kurdistan flights
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday