Downpour near Athens floods roads, traps residents
Heavy overnight rain flooded a town near Athens on Wednesday, trapping people in their homes and cars and shutting schools.
Roads in Nea Peramos, some 27 km west of Athens, had turned into fast-flowing rivers of mud, TV footage showed.
“Practically the entire town of Nea Peramos has flooded,” Mayor Grigoris Stamoulis told Antenna TV. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen such flooding before.”
Stamoulis said efforts were underway to rescue people from their cars and homes but that he did not believe anyone was in immediate danger.
Some residents were forced onto the rooftops and balconies of their homes, state television said. Authorities said they had received at least 160 calls for help.
On Tuesday, Greece declared a state of emergency on the island of Symi after a storm swept cars into the sea, damaged homes and cut off electricity and water supplies. [Reuters]
