22.2.13
The intense rainfall that begun in the early hours of Friday have caused serious problems all over Athens; flooded streets and basements, power outages and malfunctioning traffic lights.
Traffic all over Athens came to a virtual standstill due to the rainfall. Main commuter arteries such as Piraeos, Dimokratias, Sygrou and the Athens-Corinth national highway were all seriously affected, with traffic blocked entirely in some cases. A 10-kilometer queue was formed on Athinon Avenue, in the direction towards Corinth.
In the mean time, the fire brigade has received over 400 calls from mostly western suburban areas, such as Egaleo, Haidari and Peristeri. Many of the calls involved flooded basements and blocked elevators. The fire brigade was also called out to pump water from basements of the courts at the former Evelpidon School. Power outages were also noted in a few areas.
The national meteorological service predicts that the heavy rainfall will gradually tone down and be restricted to the islands in the Eastern Aegean and Dodecanese. In Attica and Thessaloniki the weather is expected to improve around midday.
