Flooded streets highlight infrastructure weaknesses

In the wake of the flooded streets in Athens during the recent downpours, experts cited the large volume of rain that fell and the lack of outlets for the water. With flooded streets becoming an all too common phenomenon, they noted that the risk can be reduced with improved infrastructure and knowledge.

“Just as we learned what to do in an earthquake, we should learn in school what to do in a flood,” geology and disaster prevention professor Efthymios Lekkas told Kathimerini.

This risk is particularly acute in Piraeus, Kallithea, Moschato, Rentis, Peristeri, Agioi Anargyroi, Nea Liosia and the city center.

Lekkas said that until around 2000, the Kifissos, Ilisos and Iridanos rivers were the main recipients of rainwater, but construction has forced the water to secondary streams.

“Flood levels are increasing as water has no way to reach the sea,” he said, adding that drainage infrastructure is not up to today’s standards.