Heavy rainfall shuts down highway, floods western Attica

The Athens-Corinth national highway was closed off for about two hours at the 29th klm and western Attica flooded, after thunderstorms hit several parts of Greece on Wednesday.

Traffic in both directions of the highway was restored late in the afternoon. The rain also affected the old highway which was cut off in the section from the 33rd klm to the Elefsina shipyards, while Attiki Odos exit towards Mandra and Magoula was closed until late at night.

The fire service has responded to 95 calls from western Attica to pump water out of houses and stores and help  citizens trapped by the waters.

In Mandra, the western seaside town that was hard hit in last November’s floods which killed 20 people, streets submerged in floodwaters following several hours of heavy rainfall.

Ioanna Kriekouki, the mayor of Mandra, said on Wednesday that there has been no progress in flood-prevention work pledged by the government.

In comments to Skai TV, Kriekouki said that plans to shield the seaside town from a natural disaster like last November’s, which also resulted in major damage to homes and businesses, have been held up by red tape.

The weather took a turn for the worse on Tuesday with torrential rain affecting many regions of the country, and especially central Greece and Attica.