Flooded houses, streets as one other storm hits battered central Greece By Reuters

By STAMOS PROUSALIS and Lefteris Papadimas

VOLOS, Greece (Reuters) -Torrential rain battered central Greece, flooding streets, houses and companies within the port metropolis of Volos and on the island of Evia, simply three weeks after devastating Storm Daniel killed 16 folks within the wider area.

A non-public helicopter crashed into the ocean in northern Evia, east of the Greek capital Athens, and a search and rescue operation was underway.

It was not instantly clear what brought about the accident.

“The non-public helicopter, an A-109 sort, was en path to Volos metropolis with a minimum of one particular person on board,” a civil aviation official instructed Reuters.

Greater than 250 folks have been evacuated from the world since Storm Elias struck on Wednesday afternoon, the fireplace brigade stated on Thursday, including that it had thus far obtained 1,200 requires assist.

The storm hit Volos with rain so heavy that water ranges within the metropolis and its suburbs rose quickly in a number of hours. A close-by stream overflowed, including to the flooding.

The mayor of Volos stated that by Wednesday evening, energy outages brought on by the storm and flooding had plunged 80% of the town into darkness. Authorities have stopped all autos from going onto the roads.

“Folks cannot stand this anymore. I can’t perceive nature’s rage. Defend yourselves,” stated Mayor Achilleas Beos, urging folks to remain residence.

On Thursday morning, the storm had moved in direction of the island of Evia have been some villages in northern Evia have been ordered to evacuate, state ERT TV stated.

Storm Elias is the second main storm to hit the area since Daniel, essentially the most intense storm to hit Greece since information started in 1930, battered the area for 3 days earlier in September.

Many Volos residents stated the authorities have been nonetheless coping with the aftermath of Daniel and had not been adequately ready for one more storm.

“This was foretold,” stated Yannis Gavanoudis, a 70-year previous pensioner. “They (authorities) did not do their job correctly.”

Daniel turned central Greece into an inland sea, flooding houses, damaging highway infrastructure and farms close to Volos, Karditsa and Larissa.

Tens of 1000’s of animals drowned and crops have been washed away, whereas residents of the flooded areas are nonetheless struggling to get well from the impression.

Storm Daniel additionally wrought devastation throughout the Mediterranean, transferring from Greece to Libya, the place over 2,500 died in an enormous flood within the metropolis of Derna.