Floods in Greece have killed at least 15 people and caused utter ruin, with the industrial towns of Mandar, Nea Peramos and Megara, in the foothills of a mountain west of Athens, being the most affected.
Locals said the devastation was unprecedented in scale. Residents said they were woken on Wednesday morning to their homes being filled by rainwater and awash with mud.
According to the BBC, many of the victims were elderly people whose bodies were found inside their homes.
"Everything is lost. The disaster is biblical," Mandra Mayor Yianna Krikouki told state broadcaster ERT.
According to the broadcaster, at least 37 people have been hospitalized and some are still missing. There are fears that the death toll could climb even higher as emergency crews continue searching flooded homes and streets on the western outskirts of Athens.
Devastating flash floods in Greece this morning!
— Class Meteo (@classmeteo) 15 ноября 2017 г.
Video from: Forecast Weather Greece@StormHour @ClimateChangRR @mark_tarello @meteonetwork @weatherchannel #Flood #climatechange #rain pic.twitter.com/2geYqV6W3A
"This is a very difficult moment for our country. We mourn the deaths of 14 people in what is a great disaster…. It is the wish of all of us that this number does not increase," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a televised address, announcing a national day of mourning Thursday.
#Μάνδρα #ΔυτικηΑττικη #Mandra #FlashFloods #Greece pic.twitter.com/ZjjbqRmQkz
— Penelope D (@PenelopeD10) 16 ноября 2017 г.
A man rescuing a cat and a dog after the deadly flood, #Greece [photo: Alkis Konstantinidis] pic.twitter.com/68CKTMOOSD
— pecora nera (@Agapi_V) 15 ноября 2017 г.
#Greece: Drone footage captures widespread #flooding near #Athens https://t.co/Qy5w1gj0IF pic.twitter.com/Ab3EYXjz4G
— Press TV (@PressTV) 16 ноября 2017 г.
Greece has been hit by heavy rains for about a week. A new severe weather warning has been issued for Greece on Thursday.
Earlier, authorities had declared a state of emergency on Symi Island in the Aegean Sea due to torrential rains that wreaked havoc on local infrastructure.