Heavy rain floods Athens Riviera roads, exposes unfinished drainage work
Sunday night's downpour flooded coastal roads south of Athens, with local mayors warning the problem will keep recurring until drainage projects are finished.
A heavy downpour over the Athens area on Sunday night left several coastal roads south of the city under water, snarling traffic and putting a spotlight on drainage work that has yet to be completed, Kathimerini reported.
Traffic backed up near Agios Kosmas beach after water pooled on Poseidonos Avenue, while drivers on Amfitheas Avenue in Palaio Faliro were squeezed into a single lane. In Alimos, a sewer line overflowed onto Poseidonos Avenue again, and utility company EYDAP sent a crew to bolt down a manhole cover that kept shifting; officers shut Karamanli Avenue in nearby Voula after water built up there too.
Alimos mayor Andreas Kondylis said work to fix the sewer pipe under Poseidonos Avenue has not started, even though a contract was put out to tender only days ago and is not due to finish until next year. He said the stretch of road will keep flooding with sewage until the pipe is replaced.
Only one of four flood-prevention schemes planned for Glyfada, where a 56-year-old woman drowned in flooding last year, has actually started, mayor Giorgos Papanikolaou said. He said more than 15 million euros of drainage work was under way on several streets but could not all be finished inside a year.
A separate scheme to fix flooding on Konstantinou Avenue in Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni is stalled because regional funding has not come through, even though the engineering study is already done, mayor Grigoris Konstantellos said.
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What we know
- 1 outlet · Kathimerini English A heavy downpour on Sunday night flooded coastal roads in Alimos, Palaio Faliro and Voula, south of Athens.
- Official · EYDAP, police A sewer overflowed onto Poseidonos Avenue in Alimos again, prompting a response from utility EYDAP and police.
- Official · Glyfada mayor A 56-year-old woman drowned in flooding in Glyfada last year; most of the flood-prevention work planned there has not started.
- Official · Local mayors Local mayors say the flooding will keep recurring until drainage projects, worth more than 15 million euros, are finished.
How each fact is established: Verified checked by an ECTV editorOfficial stated by an official body2+ outlets reported independently by two or more news organisations1 outlet reported by a single news organisation so farUnconfirmed claimed or reportedHow we label facts
Why it matters for Europe
The flooding shows how unfinished infrastructure work is leaving parts of the crowded Athens coastline exposed to the same flood risk each winter, a year after a fatal flood hit the same stretch of coast.
Sources
Reported by 3 reports from 3 independent outlets in 2 countries.
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Questions and answers
- Where did the flooding happen?
- Along the coast south of Athens, in Alimos, Palaio Faliro and Voula.
- Was anyone hurt this time?
- No injuries were reported; the main effects were traffic disruption and a sewage overflow.
- Why does the flooding keep happening?
- Several flood-prevention and drainage projects in the area are still unfinished, local mayors said.
This article was written with AI assistance from 3 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.