The severe weather front that swept across Greece continues to cause many problems with floods and power failures being reported throughout the country. Due to heavy rainfall and strong winds authorities temporarily shut down the Eleftherios Venizelos Athens International Airport. More specifically airport security interrupted aircraft refuelling between 8.20pm and 9.45pm due to the heavy storm. Planes approaching the airport for refuelling and landing were diverted by the tower to the airports of Thessaloniki and Chania in Crete, while two Olympic Air flights were cancelled and another 10 landed with long delays. In one instance a domestic flight from Mytilene to Limnos was forced to finally land in Samos after 2 hours in the air, after it was initially diverted back to Mytilene, before being ordered to return to Mytilene where it was unable to land due to the weather. The pilots then attempted to land at the Chios airport without success and finally touched down at the Samos airport. Main roads and houses were flooded in many areas on the island of Lesvos after rivers overflew due to torrential rain, while a strong hail storm hit the capital Mytilene resulting in extensive power outages. According to local authorities over 200mm of rain had fallen until 11pm on Monday. The fire department received many calls of distress in the north and central parts of the island, while authorities informed residents to avoid using their cars. Schools in the area of Kalloni will remain closed for Monday. Meanwhile, the Ionian island of Zakynthos, which was hit hard by heavy rains over the weekend, saw the old ‘Makris Lake” located on the west side of the main airport form again after torrential rains. A video shows the magnitude and volume of the waters that inundated the area. In Rhodes, overnight storm caused power failures in many of the island’s regions.
video from lesvospost
video from kalloninews
video from ionian