Rainstorm drops millions of tons of water

More than 75 million tons of water fell on Attica, the island of Evia and Ilia in southern Greece during the recent rough weather brought by the Ballos rainstorm system, according to estimates of the professor of geology and natural disaster management at Athens University Efthymios Lekkas.

Speaking to Skai on Saturday, the professor said that this was an unprecedented phenomenon that bordered on the “extreme.”

With regard to the flooded roads in Attica, Lekkas clarified that the region is structurally different from Evia and Ilia. 

“Attica is a fully urbanized area. Consequently, the water flows superficially and collects very quickly in the Ilissos and Kifissos rivers,” he said, adding that “if we had witnessed more rain, both rivers would have flooded,” he said. If the Kifissos had flooded, Lekkas noted, it would have caused serious problems in the densely populated district of Kallithea.

Regarding Ilia and Evia, the professor said these are not urbanized areas, but forested ones, which however have been partially burned, something that has led to other problems.

“There we are dealing with problems of intense erosion and landslides. Also burnt logs have been swept by the rain to the sea along with millions of tons of ash that create a muddy mass of high acidity with various objects in it, and when it reaches areas where technical works have been undertaken, it cancels them,” he said.

Lekkas also backed the way state mechanisms managed the impact of the storms in Attica, pointing out that the closure of Kifissos Avenue was the right move, as were the targeted instructions sent to city residents.

“It was particularly important that all forces, even the army, were made available to Civil Protection in order to intervene if necessary,” he said.