Heavy rains in Crete caused flooding yesterday, damaging roads and infrastructure, while in Zoniana, a torrent overflowed, turning the streets into rivers. At the same time, an emergency alert was issued via 112 to restrict travel, and the island was placed under a Red Code.
The difficult night brought new problems, with water accumulation and traffic bans at dangerous locations, while the severe weather is expected to continue today.
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A boiler room in a home in Ayia Napa was destroyed by fire
The fire department provided assistance overnight to 20 people, including tourists, who were trapped in homes and cars as large amounts of debris blocked drainage, causing water levels to rise.
Traffic on the road from Ierapetra to Sitia has been cut off at Ferma, while municipal machinery continues to work at the site to restore traffic and remove the rocks that fell onto the roadway from the landslides.
The situation is equally disheartening on the Lassithi Plateau, which has been transformed into a vast lake, flooding all the fruit and vegetable crops on the plain.
At the old port of Chania, strong winds and high waves created a scene reminiscent of winter. The waves reached the entrances of stores, and in several cases even made it difficult for pedestrians to pass through.
At the same time, due to the gale-force winds, the sailing ban remains in effect. Weather permitting, the ship from Souda is expected to depart for Piraeus on Saturday evening.
Regarding the situation in Crete, as the island is facing severe weather conditions, the Deputy Regional Governor for Civil Protection of Crete, George Tsapakos, spoke on the ERTnews program “Weekend at 5” on ERTnews. As he noted, the overall situation on the island is “relatively good,” with the exception of two areas where more significant problems have been reported.
These are the area of the Municipality of Mylopotamos, which had already been hit by the previous storm and continues to experience severe weather conditions, as well as the Therma area in Ierapetra, where heavy rainfall has been occurring since last night.
Professor of Dynamic Tectonics, Applied Geology and Natural Disaster Management, Euthymios Lekkas, discussed the progression of the severe weather in Crete while speaking on ERTnews and the program “Weekend at 5.”
As he noted, the situation on the island is developing relatively well, since, despite the severe weather events that had been forecast, the problems are not on the same scale as those recorded two days ago.
The combination of heavy rainfall and Crete’s natural geographical environment created problems, which, according to the professor, were successfully addressed thanks to the prior planning by the operational agencies. However, Mr. Lekkas emphasized that special caution is required, especially from residents, as the soil has been saturated by the rainfall of the previous days.
Emergency Traffic Measures Due to Severe Weather
As part of the ongoing updates on traffic conditions on Crete’s road network due to severe weather conditions, the General Regional Police Directorate, the following is announced:
A. In the Regional Unit of Lasithi, traffic has been suspended on the Ierapetra–Sitia provincial road:
• 15th kilometer (Agia Foti)
• 22nd kilometer (Koutsouras)
In addition, traffic is restricted to a single lane at the 28th kilometer of the Agios Nikolaos-Exo Potamos provincial road
B.In the Regional Unit of Rethymno, traffic has been suspended on the provincial road from Vistagi to Platania in the Municipality of Amari, while traffic has been restored on the provincial road from Krana to Zoniana and on the provincial road from Axos to Zoniana
C. In the Regional Unit of Heraklion, traffic remains suspended at the following locations:
• Irish crossing on Kastorias Street in Katsamba, Municipality of Heraklion
• Pedestrian crossing on Lykio Street in the Koroni Magara area of the Municipality of Heraklion
• Pedestrian crossing in Damania toward Melidochori in the Municipality of Archanes-Asterousia
Source: ertnews.gr
