Heavy rainfall from ‘Elias’ storm in Evia towns turns streets into raging torrents on Wed.

The island of Evia was severely affected on Wednesday by the ‘Elias’ adverse weather front, with Climate Crisis & Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias visiting the region to help coordinate efforts to contain the impact.

The island’s main road axis, which connects the island’s south and north, has been blocked by a landslide at Derveni in the north, while trees that fell on power lines caused power cuts and water supply problems in several areas.

Fifty firefighters with twenty-eight fire engines alongside personnel from two forest operations units (EMODE) along with one emergency rescue team (EMAK) unit have been facilitating the rescuing of people who were trapped, or helping with the pumping of flood waters.

More landslides were also reported at the villages of Istiea and Pefki, in north Evia, where people were trapped by torrential rainwaters. Minister Kikilias traveled to Evia by ship from the town of Glifa, in the Fthiotida region of central Greece, where he was overseeing operations at the two villages. At Pefki, Kikilias met with regional and local government officials. He then departed for Rovies, where he inspected the situation with the raging torrents in the town and spoke with residents who said the four streams crossing the town had caused severe structural damages after overflowing.

A meteorological station at Istiea registered more than 230,000 cubic meters of water per 0.1 hectare (1 stremma) since Wednesday morning.
In the village of Mantoudi, water in the streets is over a meter deep, while dangerous debris was carried down into the area from the mountains.

At Psachna village, torrents also endangered residents.

The ‘Elias’ weather front is intense throughout the entire Central Greece Region, with phenomena in Evia being relentlessly intense, Regional Governor Fanis Spanos told Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA).

Meanwhile, the Sperchios River on the mainland across from Evia began to overflow at the Frantzi area, flooding a large agricultural area, forcing police to shut down traffic on the road from Lamia. Residents at the village of Komma are reportedly on standby to evacuate their homes if the river waters rise further as of last night, when a 112 emergency message was sent out to them.