Priority is to ensure there are no more victims, spokesman says

The government’s first order of business is to make sure any people missing from Wednesday’s deadly floods are found and that there are no more victims from continuing storms, Dimitris Tzanakopoulos told state broadcaster ERT on Thursday morning.

The government spokesman was referring to ongoing efforts to locate a man who has been reported missing in the area of Mandra and may be trapped in his home under mud and debris after storms on Wednesday killed 17 people in western Attica. Reports on Thursday morning indicated that there may be another fibe or six people missing.

The torrential rains that hit the seaside towns of Mandra and Nea Peramos were part of a weather system dubbed Eurydice, which meteorologists say will continue to bring downpours and storms to many parts of Greece through the weekend and up to Monday at least.

Tzanakopoulos said that 90 people have been rescued from floods so far, and food and shelter is being provided to people who lost their homes in Wednesday’s floods or are at risk from the bad weather by the army and the Attica Regional Authority. He added that the Civil Protection Secretariat has set up an operations center in Elefsina, also in western Attica, to coordinate ongoing rescue and cleanup efforts.

The government spokesman also said that the Finance Ministry will apply for relief funding from the European Union, adding that some money is immediately available from state coffers to compensate people who lost their homes or businesses.