State of emergency in Thermaikos and Messinia due to heavy flooding
A state of emergency was declared in areas of Thessaloniki and the Peloponnese on Wednesday (07/09/2016) , in the wake of extensive flooding caused by torrential rains in the last two days.
A meeting attended by a government delegation in Kalamata, in Messinia, decided to implement the same set of relief measures used in the wake of disasters at Megalopolis two months earlier and on the island of Skopelos.
General Secretary for Civil Protection Yiannis Kapakis has declared a state of emergency in Kalamata and other flood-stricken areas of Messinia for six months, while the meeting also discussed the extensive damages in Lakonia, after a dam burst on the Evrotas River.
A state of emergency has also been declared in Thessaloniki in the north, where flooding on Tuesday claimed four lives, while one woman has gone missing, possibly swept away by floodwater.
The fire brigade has more than 1000 calls for assistance in the last 24 hours, more than half in Thessaloniki, and rescue workers have extricated 24 people trapped by flood water in Thessaloniki, 29 in Lakonia and 21 in Messinia.
Accumulated flood water has also blocked the Athens-Tripoli-Kalamata highway at 222nd kilometre, where traffic is being diverted onto the old national road, while the Asprohoma-Pylos road in Messinia is also closed to traffic at two points.
In Lakonia, the villages Taxiarchis, Elos and Leimonas are still cut off due to the water spilling out onto the Evrotas valley, while several roads in the area are closed to traffic.
A six-month state of emergency was also declared in Thessaloniki's Thermaikos municipality.