ATHENS: More than 800 people have been rescued over the past two days from floods in Greece, the fire department said on Thursday, after severe rainstorms turned streets into raging torrents, hurling cars into the sea and washing away roads.
The rainstorms have also hit neighbouring Bulgaria and Turkiye, leaving 14 people dead in the three countries, including three people in Greece. Fire department spokesperson Vasilis Vathrakogiannis said swift water rescue specialists and divers from the department’s disaster response units, as well as the Army, were participating in rescue efforts and were trying to reach remote areas despite roads having been washed away.
Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said some areas received more than twice the average annual rainfall of Athens in the space of 12 hours.