Red alert on Crete: record floods, one dead, schools closed
Heavy rain triggered record flooding on the Greek island of Crete, claiming at least one life, while similarly extreme weather hit southern France a week earlier.
Record flooding on Crete
The popular Greek holiday island of Crete has been hit by record flooding after torrential rain, prompting meteorologists to issue the highest-level red weather alert. Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on Thursday that 150 millimetres of rain fell on the island within a few hours, according to PolsatNews. The hardest-hit regions were Rethymno, Heraklion and Lasithi, Civil Protection authorities said. Buildings and roads were submerged, cars were swept away by the water, and some tourists were trapped in hotels. Several municipalities reported serious damage, the ANA news agency reported.
Media reports say the body of a 79-year-old shepherd was found in a ravine; his family had reported him missing on Wednesday. In Heraklion, firefighters rescued a man and a woman at the last moment after they were swept up by a torrent of water, AFP reported. Firefighters responded to 21 incidents across Crete overall, 15 of them in Heraklion, mainly pumping out water and rescuing people from cut-off buildings. Schools in the Chania and Rethymno regions were closed on Thursday as a precaution, while wind gusts of up to 88 km/h disrupted ferry access to two of the three main ports serving Athens.
The mayor of Mylopotamos, Giorgos Klados, told the website cretalive.gr that the situation was dramatic, adding: "I am 50 years old, and I don't remember anything like this ever happening."
Warnings remain in place
According to Onet, Crete remains under a red alert for heavy rain, hailstorms and strong winds, with forecasters warning of possible widespread, life-threatening flooding requiring evacuations. The Chania, Rethymno and Heraklion regions are most at risk, with rainfall totals expected to exceed 200 mm by the end of the week and locally more than 400 mm. The worst storms are expected to last until Sunday, with improvement forecast from Tuesday. Heavy rain also affected Paros and Mykonos, where mud swept away cars.
Flooding in France as well
Similarly extreme weather had struck southern France a week earlier. Near Montpellier, around 335 litres of rain per square metre fell within 24 hours — roughly as much as the region normally sees in two months, according to n-tv. Rivers overflowed their banks, all bus and train services in the greater Montpellier area were suspended, and tornadoes were observed southeast of the city.
