Floods on the Greek island of Crete leave at least one dead and one missing

First modification: 10/15/2022 – 22:43

A man at least 50 years old is the only victim so far reported on Crete, Greece’s largest island. The car of the deceased was dragged by the strong currents of the overflowing rivers.

The person reported missing was allegedly in the same vehicle as the deceased. The search is being carried out by divers from the Coast Guard and the Fire Department’s Special Disaster Unit.

The latter’s spokesman, Giannis Artopios, specified that the floods, which he described as extreme, occurred in the Heraklion and Lasithi Crete regions.

“The fire department operations center received 453 calls in a single hour. The severity of the phenomenon at the local level exceeded any meteorological forecast”, he pointed out.

The official also reported on the checks of the vehicles that are semi-sunken, to rule out the presence of people inside them.

Authorities also noted that more reports of missing persons were being investigated, raising fears that many may have been trapped in their cars. The largest damage is located in the coastal towns of Ayía Pelagía and Ligaría.

For his part, the governor of Crete, Stavros Arnaoutakis, underlined the magnitude of the events as “a biblical disaster with human loss”. He later stated that they could not have planned “anything more than what we already did. In a very short period of time, there was a massive volume of water.”

The rains have been accompanied by strong winds, also affecting the western part of the island where firefighters rescued at least eight tourists.

Avoiding unnecessary travel in the next 24 hours and paying attention to the indications are the main calls of Civil Protection.

With AP, EFE and Reuters