ATHENS (GREECE) – A rare storm, known as Medicane (Mediterranean hurricane), lashed central Greece on Saturday, causing flooding, said authorities.
Named “Ianos”, the storm uprooted trees and snapped power lines on the Ionian islands and the western Peloponnese on Friday. It then made its way to central Greece, hitting areas near Karditsa and Farsala.
Fire brigade officials retrieved the body of a woman from a flooded house in a hamlet near Farsala.
Police said search is going on for two more people who went missing when the storm hit.
Firefighters also stumbled upon the body of a man near a hospital in Karditsa.
Pounded by rains, the city of Karditsa resembled a lake as shown in television footage. One bridge collapsed in the storm.
“We’re dealing with a total catastrophe,” Nikolaos Gousios, a resident at Farsala, said.
Train services between Athens and Thessaloniki have been suspended.
The fire brigade said they got more than 2,450 calls for help when the storm hit to rescue people trapped in houses, remove uprooted trees and bail out water from shops and homes.
Efforts are underway to restore power supply in Karditsa and the Ionian islands. On Friday, five vessels sank off Zakynthos and Lefkada, said the coast guard.