Two women were found dead in the Astritsa village of Karditsa, central Greece, the Fire Brigade said on Thursday.
Their deaths bring the total of people who have perished due to the extreme weather phenomenon ‘Daniel’, which flooded central Greece and destroyed much infrastructure, to six.
According to initial information, they were aged between 75 and 80, and their bodies were found in the same house by the Fire Brigade’s emergency team EMAK. Twelve firefighters were involved in the operation.
Earlier, in the region of Fthiotida, the body of a man was found a ravine near the village Petroto of Domokos. The Fire Brigade found the body who was, according to initial information a 51-years-old farmer.
Most villages and the capitals of the Regional Units of Karditsa and Trikala are facing serious problems as a result of the heavy rains hitting the country over the last few hours.
Homes, livestock units and businesses have been affected with incalculable damages, while residents, in some areas, are trapped in their houses, due to the height of the water.
People that are missing in Volos and Pelion have not given any signs of life, while the severe weather conditions persist in Volos and on Mt Pelion which have suffered incalculable disasters.
In addition to the two dead in Magnesia, there are also 4 missing persons, among them, a couple of 35-year-old Austrians, whose fate is unknown, when the house they were staying in Potistika, southern Pelion, was swept away by the torrential waters.
Volos and water
Water supply has been disrupted for third consecutive day in Volos amid considerable disasters caused by the unprecedented bad weather, while electricity is gradually being restored.
All infrastructure in the city of Volos and its suburbs, such as the port and road arteries leading out of the city, have suffered major damages.
Bottled water is being distributed to towns in central Greece through Volos, after the ‘Daniel’ storm severely damaged electricity and water supply systems in the region.
Fifteen trucks have already arrived and are distributing water in Volos, Nea Ionia, Agria, and Alykes, while another 30 are expected by evening, with residents forming long lines outside city halls to pick up bottles. In addition, a Seajets ferry carrying dozens of large trucks with bottles of water is expected to arrive at Volos as a gift of shipowner Marios Iliopoulos.
Volos Mayor Achilleas Beos said on Thursday that water from emergency drilling would be supplied to residents of the metropolitan region by ration and at specific hours, but it should not be used for drinking. “At 6:30 pm, water will be supplied to the regions from Yianni Dimou up to and including the coast, from Anavros to Krafsidona. This water is pumped from 4 drills. It is neither enough nor drinkable. It will be rationed. The water supply will operate for 3 to 4 hours, it will stop and restart, in order to cover urgent needs. As of 11:00 pm, it will be cut off entirely, because this water is temporary, not to be drunk. The entire [water] network is destroyed. Technicians have made small interventions to be able to directly provide some water. At various points, it’s necessary to stop the pumping of water in order to allow the depositories to be refilled by the drilling. The situation is tragic.”
He also said that also at 6:30 pm, water will be supplied to Nea Ionia, from Meandrou and below, between Krafsidona and Anavrou. Portaria, Katichori and Platanidia have water. Other areas such as Alli Meria, Agios Georgios, Agia Paraskevi, “destruction is complete. I ask for your understanding. For this entire network, we shall need days” to fix it. Beos said a government delegation was in the city to restore the network.
At the same time, services of laboratories, operation rooms, and kidney dialysis units at Volos Hospital, one of the largest in Greece. Bottled water has been provided to patients and staff at the hospital, while by decision of the Fire Brigade with the municipality’s agreement, the hospital got its non-drinking water from the municipal pools of Volos and Nea Ionia, particularly for the units carrying out dialysis and chemotherapies.
Damage has also been caused to archaeological sites of enormous value and importance, such as the Neolithic excavations at Dimini and the Ancient Theatre, while the Archaeological Museum of Volos and the Tsalapata Museum-Complex suffered incalculable damages, after being covered by tons of mud.
The disasters in the road network are huge, while conncection with southern Pelion was distrupted when a bridge collapsed.
Chaos prevails in the villages Milina, Horto, Kala Nera, Platanias, Afissos, Ano and Kato Lechonia in the direction of southern Pelion where roads, houses and cars have been lost and communication and land access are impossible.
Similar images exist in eastern Pelion with the worst affected areas being Agios Ioannis, Papa Nero and Horefto, as well as in Tsagarada.
Makrynitsa has also suffered great damage, where large amounts of water washed away houses and cars from the parking lot in Brani.
Mt. Pilio evacuations
A large operation to evacuate by sea people trapped at the Mikros community of Platanias, in South Mt. Pilio, was concluded successfully on Thursday.
Over 150 people were trapped as of Tuesday morning after the road leading to the community was completely destroyed. All of them were Greek and foreign tourists on holiday in the area.
Evacuating them by land was impossible after torrential rain and floods destroyed the only road access to the coastal community. South Pilio Mayor Michalis Mitzikos contacted the Central Port Authority of Volos to send a tourist vessel (‘Tarzan’) to pick up a total of 105 Greeks and foreigners who had been without power, water or food for three days after hotels and inns ran out of supplies.
A second evacuation effort was ongoing as of 17:00 to evacuate hundreds of residents and foreign tourists from Platanias proper, with the help of Mayor Mitzikos and Civil Protection. Also trapped at Platanias are Serbian buses that had transported the tourists from the neighboring country.
Evia
The area of Rovies, in Northern Evia, is tested on Thursday as several houses have been flooded following the torrential rain.
Firefighters and rescue teams rushed to the area to remove people trapped in their homes. Problems have also been created on the road network.
Meanwhile, traffic on the Lamia-Katerini highway, in the direction of Thessaloniki, has been restored while traffic from Katerini to Lamia, in the direction of Athens, is carried out only in the left lane.
The Greek police called on drivers to avoid unnecessary travel both on the national road network and on local roads where severe weather phenomena are observed or warnings have been issued.
A message via the emergency number 112 was sent to the residents of Sofades, Karditsa, and Pyli, Trikala, in order to avoid underground and ground floors in buildings.
The Operations Center of the Fire Department has received a total of 4,870 calls since Tuesday, September 5. Most of them mainly concern water pumping, tree cutting and removal of people to safe places.
Storm ‘Daniel’ which is sweeping across Greece with torrential rains and a high frequency of lightning, as well as strong winds in the Aegean will continue until Thursday afternoon, according to the National Meteorological Service (EMY).
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
