Heavy rains cause problems throughout Greece

   The heavy rains of the past 24 hours caused problems throughout the country and several areas were flooded, the Greek fire brigade reported on Sunday. It said that fire brigade stations had received hundreds of calls, mainly to pump water from flooded homes and businesses.

    Hardest hit was the prefecture of Rodopi in northeastern Greece, where a state of emergency has been declared since Saturday. According to the fire brigade, it had received 360 calls for assistance in that area, while problems were also acute in the prefectures of Kavala, Drama and in Ioannina.

    In the Peloponnese, the fire brigade responded to 20 calls to pump flood water in the municipality of Falaisia while the village of Tourkoleika was cut off after a bridge collapsed and could only be reached by a special tracked fire-brigade vehicle. Civil protection services throughout the fire-stricken areas succeeded in averting serious problems due to the rains.

    Problems were also reported in Serres where homes were flooded and crops were destroyed, while a driver was rescued from his car at the last minute before it was swept away by a torrent of water.

   

    State of emergency declared in Rodopi after heavy rains

   

    A state of emergency has been declared in the prefecture of Rodopi in northern Greece after heavy rains caused flooding in the region, while an emergency meeting of local government officials was held on Sunday at the Eastern Macedonia-Thrace regional authority to discuss the problems that have arisen, with Macedonia-Thrace Minister Margaritis Tzimas in the chair.

    "The state is present, I congratulate the regional general secretary, the prefect and the mayor of Komotini and the authorities for the excellent coordination between them and I think we had a wonderful model of cooperation between state and local government in dealing with the problems of this intense storm that hit Rodopi," Tzimas said afterwards.

    He stressed that the weather conditions had been extreme and that the worst had been avoided, while Rodopi Prefect Aris Yiannakidis said they had been "unprecedented in their intensity and duration".

    Throughout the region, several roads have been cut off, about 140 sheep and goats were drowned at Mikro Kranovounio, rivers and torrents overflowed and dozens of homes in Komotini and the surrounding countryside were flooded since the rains started on Saturday.

    The military have also contributed to efforts to evacuate villages in the region and set up anti-flooding works, providing vehicles, equipment and personnel, while the fire brigade sent 120 firemen and 38 vehicles and rescued 10 people that were trapped.

    Serious damage was also reported in the prefectures of Kavala and Drama, where homes and businesses were flooded, cars were swept away and crops suffered damage. In the surrounding countryside, a fall of hail damaged olive groves and torrents overflowed, while a new road was swept away at Orfanos.

    Problems due to strong winds were reported from the harbour on the island of Rhodes, where the cruise ship "Dream" came loose from its moorings. The ship has been docked at the harbour for the past two months for repairs.

    It was only manned by a skeleton crew when it came loose and was adrift within the harbour, where there was a danger that it might collide with other vessels docked in harbour. The coast guard intervened and managed to tow the ship back with the help of three tug-boats.

    Minor damage and problems caused by the bad weather were also reported at several harbours of the Dodecanese island group.

   

    Problems caused by rains persist near Megalopolis

   

    Problems caused by the previous day's heavy rains continued in the plains around Megalopolis in the central Peloponnese on Sunday, where landslides had blocked roads and swept away bridges.

    In some villages, the power supply had been cut off and traffic on the Tripolis-Kalamata national highway was stopped for more than an hour when water covered the road near the villages Aghios Floros and Allagi.

    Fears have been expressed that if rains continued, the Alfios River might flood its banks.