September 13, 1958
FLOODS IN ATTICA: Heavy rain fell yesterday in Athens and on the entire Attica plain that drenched the city and its suburbs for over an hour. The weather changed suddenly in the early afternoon: The sun disappeared behind heavy clouds and a strong northerly wind began to blow. Visibility was reduced and when the rain began, there were repeated flashes of lightning. Naturally all pedestrians left the streets and traffic was not heavy as vehicles were obstructed by flooding that turned even main roads into rushing torrents. Meanwhile, police and fire stations began receiving calls for help from people in flooded basements and ground-floor homes. Many were taken to first-aid centers suffering from injuries sustained in falls. The districts of Kolonos, Kypseli, Aegaleo, Aghia Varvara, Haravgi, Peristeri, Kaisariani, Pangrati, Gargaretta, Hymettus and Nea Philadelphia were the worst hit by the flooding. In the city center, water flooded shops and basements on Ermou, Mitropoleos, Aeolou, Veikou and Aghiou Meletiou streets. In some buildings the water was 1.5-2 meters high. A total of 500 basement and ground-floor shops and homes were flooded in the Athens area, 250 of them sustaining damage.
