Storms flood Crete, killing elderly farmer, as tourists are evacuated

Days of torrential rain, high winds and flooding have battered the Greek island of Crete since Wednesday, killing an 82-year-old farmer in the central Rethymno region and forcing the evacuation of dozens of tourists, officials and local media said. The European Union's Copernicus satellite mapping service activated emergency rapid mapping, known as EMSR933, for the flooding on Sunday.

The heaviest rain fell around the south-eastern port of Ierapetra and the western city of Chania on Friday and Saturday, with up to 420 millimetres recorded in the Chania area over that period, Greek meteorological data showed. Winds reached force eight to nine on the Beaufort scale, and Greece's meteorological service recorded roughly twenty-two thousand lightning strikes over the island and the southern Aegean in 24 hours, Portuguese outlet Observador reported.

In Ierapetra, floodwater swept several cars and trees into the sea and blocked roads with debris, mayor Manolis Frangoulis said. Some tourists had to be evacuated and one woman was taken to hospital as a precaution, he said. On the road between Ierapetra and Sitia, 23 people were trapped in their cars by floodwater, state broadcaster ERT reported; three tourists and their taxi driver had to abandon their vehicle after a torrent swept it onto an embankment, though all reached safety.

In Chania harbour, a popular tourist spot, large waves damaged restaurants and other businesses along the seafront. Civil protection authorities told residents of several towns to move to higher ground. In Gouves, in the Hersonissos municipality, floodwater and gusts of more than 80 kilometres an hour swept cars into the sea, and clean-up work was under way there by the weekend.

Eight national park staff were stranded in the Samaria Gorge, a popular hiking destination, after heavy rain raised river levels too high for them to leave safely, deputy regional governor Giorgos Tsapakos said. They had food and medicine and were in a safe location, he said. Elsewhere, emergency crews were clearing small landslides and debris from roads and monitoring river and stream levels, deputy governor Nikos Syrigonakis said.

On the Lasithi plateau, large areas were covered in mud and water, damaging potato, vegetable and other crops, with many farmers still unable to reach their land to assess the damage. Dozens of tourists were evacuated from hotels as a precaution and a state of emergency was declared, Romanian outlet Adevărul reported.