Greece is hit by a Mediterranean hurricane.
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Nikiforos Stamenis
The “medicane” Ianos, a rare Mediterranean hurricane, continues to strike Greece.
And the toll is growing: two people died and another is missing on Saturday in the center of the country.
A woman was found dead in her flooded home in Farsala, firefighters said.
In the nearby town of Karditsa, a man was found dead at his workplace, an animal farm, according to state television Ert.
Nearby, in Mouzaki, a 40-year-old woman is reported missing after her car was washed away by the Pamissos River, according to the same source.
Torrents of mud, falling trees, power and water cuts… The city of Karditsa, 300 km north of Athens and with a population of 113,000 people, was particularly affected on Friday night to Saturday by Hurricane Ianos.
The water level rose by one meter there due to heavy rainfall, according to the vice-prefect Konstantinos Noussios, quoted by the Greek press agency ANA.
Many buildings, homes, shops and warehouses were devastated, and firefighters were called on Saturday to rescue hundreds of people whose homes were flooded.
On Friday, it was western Greece, especially the islands of the Ionian Sea, which had been affected by this hurricane accompanied by torrential rains and violent gusts.
The islands of Zakynthos, Kefalonia and Corfu have suffered from floods, power cuts and falling trees.
A boat carrying 55 migrants sent a distress message off the coast of the southern Peloponnese on Friday, but the Greek coastguard was unable to rescue it.
Saturday, research was underway but "it is possible that the boat has changed direction" after noting the lack of help, told AFP an official of the coast guard.
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