Zoom Image

Port of Volos: flooding and destruction

Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki / REUTERS

Because of the severe storms in central Greece, hundreds of people spent the night on the ferry "Superstar" in the sea off the port city of Volos. Even in the morning, the ship of the shipping company Seajets was still several nautical miles away from the port, as could be seen on the seafaring platform Marinetraffic. According to media reports, the port police of Volos had prohibited the docking of the ferry because the port was previously under water and the traffic situation in the city was also difficult.

The airport of the Sporades island of Skiathos also remained severely affected, where several hundred people also had to spend the night, according to airport spokesman Savvas Karagiannis. "A plane is trying to land right now – we have to see what happens next," Karagiannis told the German Press Agency. He said he could not say when the airport would fully resume operations. "Unbelievable amounts of water have come down, the access roads are closed," he said. People would be provided with food and water.

Warning of renewed heavy rainfall

The Greek meteorological agency EMY again warned on Wednesday of heavy rainfall, storms and a high number of lightning. The region of Thessaly, the Sporades, the island of Euboea, the east and south of the Peloponnese peninsula, but also regions in the north of the country near the port city of Thessaloniki are affected. People are urged not to go out on the streets in the affected regions if possible, to avoid trees and coastal areas because of the risk of lightning and not to try to cross torrents on foot or by car.

Storm »Daniel« had raged in the region of Thessaly during the night. The civil defense imposed driving bans for the cities of Farsala and Karditsa so that the emergency vehicles could travel freely and because many roads were flooded, blocked and closed, as images in Greek media showed.

lmd/dpa