Hard hit by many devastating fires this summer, including the one that has ravaged Dadia National Park in Evros (north) for the past two weeks, Greece has been experiencing torrential rains since Monday, September 4.
“Thunderstorms and heavy rain fell on Tuesday, especially in Volos, capital of the department of Magnesia”, in the center of the country, where a man was found dead, government spokesman Yannis Artopios told AFP. ERT public television.
According to initial information, the victim was swept away by a torrent, while a shepherd in the village of Agios Georgios, located in the same region, is missing, Mr Artopios said.
Precipitation in Volos reached 200 millimeters and 516 millimeters in the nearby village of Zagora, located at the foot of Mount Pelion, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (EMY), which recommended residents of the region to limit their movements. The city hospital basement was flooded and firefighters “are pumping out the water,” Artopios said.
The department of Magnesia and the islands near Sporades are classified on red alert, according to the civil protection services.
The island of Euboea and the department of Elide also affected
On Monday, the EMY warned of severe weather that will affect the country until Thursday and “the authorities are on high alert”, according to the government.
In the evening, thunderstorms hit the island of Euboea, located north of Athens, where they caused landslides, as well as the district of Elis, in the Peloponnese (southwest), where crops were damaged, according to local media.
On the front lines of the massive Dadia Forest fire, which has been burning since August 19, Mr. Artopios told Agence France-Presse that “the fire [was] under control and [that] no fire has ‘[was] active’. “Firefighters remain on site to monitor the situation,” he said.
Described as a “mega-fire” by experts, the Dadia forest fire, an area protected by the European Natura 2000 network, has so far destroyed more than 81,000 hectares, almost half of the hectares affected by the fires since the beginning of summer in Greece, according to the European observatory Copernicus.
Like many countries around the Mediterranean, Greece is plagued every summer by devastating fires which this year have killed at least 26 people and ravaged at least 150,000 hectares.
After months of historic drought, Spain is also hit by torrential rains that have left three dead and three missing.
