Instead of Crete, holiday planes had to land in Athens. A bad storm made the landing approach impossible. Storms on the island of Crete cause chaos and claim two lives.
- flash floods after storm in Greece: “Biblical catastrophe” in Crete.
- devastation after severe storm on Crete: Missing woman (49) found dead in the sea.
- Severe storms in Greece: Holiday planes cannot follow Crete and have to land in Athens.
- Weather on Crete calls victim: At least one person has died, the situation is “out of control.”
- This News-Ticker to the Storm in Greece is continuously updated.
Update from October 18, 6:46 a.m: After the severe storm on the holiday island of Crete, the coastal village of Agia Pelagia is in darkness. The city lights do not work at night, reports the Greek news portal protothema.gr. Residents and tourists only venture out onto the streets with flashlights because it’s so dark.
Storm on Crete: After the disaster, Agia Pelagia is in the dark
Cretapost has published a video of this depressing situation. Even without light, you can see tons of mud covering the streets. This mud is dirty and slippery, in combination with the complete darkness, residents should be afraid of breaking their arms and legs, criticized Cretapost. ATMs would be lit in the area though.
Update from October 17, 4:15 p.m.: ARD reporter René Kindermann was also taken along with his family surprised by the flood masses on the way to vacation. Your plane had to be diverted, and the sports journalist later documented the extent of the disaster in an Instagram video.
Flash floods after storms in Greece: “Biblical catastrophe” on Crete
Update from October 17, 9:03 am: “It was the worst storm in the last 100 years,” said the regional governor of Crete, Stavros Arnaoutakis, the news portal protothema.gr. Heavy autumn storms in Greece raged on the island of Crete over the weekend. Flash floods have left massive damage. A man, 50, and a mother of two, 49, died in flash floods in the coastal town of Agia Pelagia, near Heraklion. According to media reports, the funeral of the two fatalities will take place on Monday.
The Greek Daily Newspaper Kathimerini wrote of a “biblical catastrophe”. The situation was “out of control,” the mayor of the coastal town of Sitia told TV station Skai. He described such storms in the region as “extraordinary”.
The flash floods after heavy rainfall simply swept away everything, explains geology professor Efthymios Lekkas protothema.gr. Above Agia Pelagia, the water flowed at great speed due to the steep terrain. There are also rocks here that are easily eroded. The flood protection project can absorb up to 40 cubic meters per second, there was actually a volume of 150 cubic meters per second.
The extreme weather event and the man-made environment played a role in this disaster, said seismologist and geophysicist Gerasimos Papadopoulos. Floods are self-inflicted because they weren’t built properly. “If we have dammed streams that are the natural sewers of the flood, then in times of flood those streams turn into torrential, destructive, deadly torrents.”
Scientists blame man-made climate change for the increase in extreme weather events. These include floods, heat waves and droughts.
Update from October 16, 1:30 p.m: Torrential rains in Crete have claimed at least two lives. A man (50) and a woman (49) tragically drowned after their car was washed away by flash floods (see also October 16 update at 9.43am). The mother of two was in the area cleaning houses, reports the Greek news portal protothema.gr. Because of the rain, the two wanted to drive back to Heraklion by car.
A Coast Guard search team discovered the body of the missing on Sunday morning. The emergency services were able to rescue them under difficult conditions. The 49-year-old’s husband saw his wife’s lifeless body floating in the sea and, according to media reports, threw himself into the water to save her.
The extent of the damage after the storm on Crete is initially unclear. In a short time, rivers turned into massive flash floods on Saturday. The coastal town of Agia Pelagia is particularly affected.
Storm in Crete: flash floods with at least two dead and airport chaos
Chaos reigned at Heraklion Airport. Runways were under water. Flight operations had to be temporarily suspended. At least 20 charter flights had to be diverted. Passengers describe the situation as “chaos” and “absolute confusion”. Footage of crowds can be seen on social media. Meanwhile, firefighters tried to get people to safety. Four people were found trapped in two vehicles in the eastern city of Sithia. Eight tourists and a guard had to wait in a museum in Sitia, but were later rescued by the fire brigade, reports the afp news agency.
Operations at the airport on Crete are ongoing. “All hell broke loose today,” a holidaymaker tells our editorial team Merkur.de. People are crowded in front of boarding in the terminal, as can be seen in the photo. Almost none of the passengers wear a surgical or FFP2 mask.
Devastation after severe storms on Crete: Missing woman (49) found dead in the sea
Update from October 16, 9:43 a.m: The violent storm on Crete claimed another fatality. Like the Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini reported, the body of a missing woman (49) was discovered in the bay of Agia Pelagia. Divers and Coast Guard forces had previously searched for the woman with drones. According to eyewitness reports, the woman was swept away by the roaring masses of water and pulled towards the sea when she tried to get out of the car.
So far, two people have died in the storm – a 50-year-old man and the 49-year-old. The two were in the same vehicle.
Damage from the storm is devastating, particularly in the coastal village of Agia Pelegia – some 25 kilometers northwest of Crete’s capital, Heraklion. Heavy rains caused flash floods on the largest Greek island. Heraklion International Airport had to be temporarily closed. Landing and runways were completely under water. Thousands of passengers were stranded at the airport. Flight operations have since resumed. According to the airport’s website, the take-offs are running without delays.
The situation had meanwhile been “out of control”, the mayor of the city of Sitia told the Skai TV station. He described such storms in the region as “extraordinary”.
Update from October 15, 10:35 p.m.: sea Meteoalarm, the storm warning system of the European weather agency, the storm on Crete will last until around 11 p.m., wind and rain will accompany the Greek island until tomorrow. At least there, relaxation is apparently in sight. According to the portal, the full force of the storm is still expected in Karpathos, Rhodes, Kos and all the surrounding islands. It should storm until about 5 p.m. on Sunday. It remains to be seen whether the storm will cause similar damage there as in Crete.
Storm moves on: Greek island of Rhodes apparently in danger
Update from October 15, 8:35 p.m.: At the airport in Crete, operations can apparently still not be started, like that Editorial network Germany reported. It is still unclear when the situation will improve. However, the storm in Greece is moving further east from Crete and is heading towards the island of Rhodes, among other things. The Ministry of Citizen Protection has already sent the residents a warning SMS.
A video that a German holidaymaker in Crete apparently posted on Instagram also shows several cars drifting in the stormy sea. “Sunshine and be happy!” He writes. The situation remains tense.
Severe storms in Greece: Vacationers have to go to Athens instead of Crete
First report from October 15: Athens/Munich – A difficult one Storm in Crete forced numerous holiday planes to make an “emergency landing” in the Greek capital in Athens on Saturday. Among the travelers is one of our editors. He was on Lufthansa flight 1758 from Munich to Crete.
Passengers initially stayed on the planes at Athens airport, which refueled and then queued for the restart. The Lufthansa flight was probably one of many. The closure of the airports in Crete, Heraklion and Chania continued. “It should be hours rather than minutes,” announced the Lufthansa pilot after landing at eleven o’clock.
Heavy storm hits Greek holiday island – hundreds of holidaymakers are stranded in Athens
At around 12.45 p.m., the pilot specified the departure time: “We will probably be able to take off in four hours and will try to improve your situation until then.” He had considered letting the passengers into the terminal, but experience had shown that it was often spontaneous Hurry up. “And flying off without guests on board is also difficult.” A little later, however, the Munich passengers were able to leave the airline and while away the waiting time in the terminal.
Weather on Crete claims victims: situation “out of control” – 50-year-old dies in the floods
Meanwhile, videos and pictures show how dangerous the storms on the island of Crete are Tageszeitung “Kathimerini“ published: A man died in severe flooding, two other people were initially missing on Saturday. The situation was “out of control,” the mayor of the city of Sitia told Skai TV. He described such storms in the region as “extraordinary”. The 112 warned in a tweet of “dangerous weather phenomena in the next 24 hours”.
According to the fire department, a 50-year-old man near the city of Heraklion in the north of the island was surprised in his car by the torrential rain and could not save himself. According to the authorities, at least nine other people were temporarily stuck in their cars. Eight tourists and a security guard had to wait in a museum.
Local media also reported extensive damage in coastal villages, where roads became raging rivers. A regional representative asked residents of the island to stay at home if possible.
The extent to which German tourists will be able to enjoy Crete in the coming days and weeks is anything but certain (ank, mke, afp)