The tourist hotspot has seen homes flooded and cars swept out to sea as severe storms hit
Tourists travelling to Greece have been issued with an update by the Foreign Office as the nation is pummeled by severe storms. Just days before the Easter holidays start, the popular holiday spot has been battered by severe weather which has seen homes flooded and vehicles washed out to sea.
Crete has suffered the worst from heavy rainfall today, Tuesday, April 2, with people having to be rescued from their cars, which were trapped in floodwater. On other islands there has been hailstorms and torrential downpours which have caused school closures.
On the island of Paros, such was the force of the winds that cars were swept out to sea and homes and businesses were flooded with mud and water.
The resulting damage and debris has seen local authorities call for assistance to help clear and repair roads and damaged infrastructure, reports the Independent.
Paros’ mayor Costas Bizas told public broadcaster ERT that the situation requires input from the government after the serious damage was caused in just a couple of hours of adverse weather.
He said: “Roads have been damaged and we need help with more machines so that we can clear the streets.”
The party island of Mykonos has also borne the brunt of strong winds and even hail with the sunshine island being covered in icy hailstones.
Schools were closed and the same action was taken on the islands of Kos – another tourist favourite – as well as in Syros, Symi and Kalymnos.
In Crete, rockslides and road closures were reported across the island. And in Rhodes there were gale force winds which brought down trees and damaged vehicles.
And the Foreign Office has advised that tourists sign up to alerts which will warn of further weather events such as earthquakes, flash floods, wildfires and earthquakes which the country can experience.
It said holidaymakers should register for alerts from the Greek Government’s Emergency Communication Service.
This can be done on your mobile phone as follows:
- for iPhones go to Settings > Notifications and enable the ‘Emergency Alerts’ option at the bottom
- for Android 11 and higher go to Settings > Notifications > Advanced Settings > Wireless Emergency Alerts
- for Samsung devices go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Notifications > Emergency Notifications and enable the ‘Emergency Alerts’ option
You can also find out more from gov.uk on what you can do to prepare for and respond to extreme weather and natural hazards.
The extreme storms come just weeks after thousands of locals and tourists fled the popular island of Santorini thanks to a rare earthquake swarm.
The first earthquake, measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale, happened on February 4 and a state of emergency was called.
And just yesterday, the island which is visited by 2.5 million tourists every year, welcomed it’s first cruise ship of the year after the mass evacuation putting an end to fears about the impact on the tourist season this year.
