British tourists have been left stranded on a Greek holiday island after torrential rain caused flash flooding across the country.
Holidaymakers on the island of Skiathos have been left with “no way to get food” with many currently unable to get to the airport.
Police have ordered all residents and tourists to stay off the streets and the island’s mayor has put in a request to declare a state of emergency, local media reported.
Homes have been damaged by the flooding while hotels have been struck by power cuts.
A car is submerged under water during a storm on mount Pelion, near Volos, Greece— (via REUTERS)
One stranded tourist said the centre of Skiathos is “underwater” and described the situation as “horrendously scary”.
“I’m in the centre of Skiathos & it is underwater there has been zero flights landing or taking off since yesterday morning, none, nada, zip, zilch!… its incredible & horrendously scary & the airport has no communications,” they said in a tweet.
Meanwhile another tourist said they had “no way to get food” after their resort was flooded, in a post on Facebook.
It is unconfirmed whether flights to or from Skiathos have been cancelled.
Dangerous sea conditions have also forced ferries to and from the island to be halted, leaving many passengers unsure whether they will be able to catch their flights home over the next few days.
Jet2 has advised customers that staff are “aware of the weather conditions currently affecting Skiathos” and”‘are monitoring the situation very closely with our customers best interests in mind”.
Storm Daniel has battered western and central Greece since Monday, prompting hundreds of calls to emergency services to pump out water. This comes just days after a deadly wildfire, which has burned for more than two weeks, was brought under control in the north of the country.
A fallen tree is seen in a flooded river during a storm in the city of Volos, Greece,— (via REUTERS)
Flooding has been reported in the villages of Agria, Portaria, Tsangarada and Stagiates, where electricity supply was unstable, while power supplies have been disrupted by the storm on the island of Corfu.
Thunder and lightning have also struck the islands of Skopelos and Alonnisos.
Meanwhile, a man died after a wall collapsed on him in the bad weather near Volos city on the Greek mainland. According to the Athens News Agency, the wall collapsed when the man, a cattle breeder, was trying to reach his animals.
Another man was reported missing in Volos and is believed to have been swept away by floodwaters, fire brigade spokesperson Ioannis Artopoios told Skai television.
“His son came out (of the car) but the father was carried away and there is a search operation under way right now,” Artopoios said.
Authorities have restricted traffic in the wider area of Volos.
The flooding came a month after wildfires hit Greece and many other parts of Europe. Thousands of people were evacuated from towns and villages across Greece after wildfires spread through Corfu, Rhodes, Evia, Crete and the northern Peloponnese region in Greece.
The most serious fire in the country was on the island of Rhodes, where some 19,000 people were evacuated from several locations.
Local police said 16,000 people were evacuated by land and 3,000 by sea from 12 villages and several hotels.
A wildfire in the Evros region, which burned for more than two weeks, was brought under control this week. It was tackled by 741 firefighters, backed by 124 vehicles and two aircraft.
The blaze has been blamed for the deaths of 20 people, all believed to have been migrants who had recently crossed the border.
The fire, which broke out on Aug. 19 near the northeastern city of Alexandroupolis and joined with other blazes to form one massive wildfire, burned more than 93,000 hectares (230,000 acres) of land by Sunday, making it the largest single blaze to hit an EU country since records began in 2000.
