Heavy rains follow summer forest fires in Greece, killing one person

ATHENS, September 5 (Reuters) – Heavy rains flooded homes and roads in Greece, and a man died after a wall collapsed due to bad weather, the fire department said on Tuesday.

Storm Daniel has battered western and central Greece since Monday, prompting hundreds of calls to emergency services to pump out water just days after a deadly forest fire that has been burning for more than two weeks in the country’s north was brought under control.

A fire department official told Reuters: “The man died after a wall collapsed near the city of Volos, perhaps due to bad weather conditions,” without providing further details.

According to the Athens News Agency, the wall collapsed when the man, a livestock farmer, was trying to reach his animals.

Footage broadcast by state broadcaster ERT showed cars in the coastal city of Volos on the Pagastic Gulf being washed onto muddy beaches by heavy rains.

Fire brigade spokesman Ioannis Artoboayos told Skai TV that a man went missing in Volos after the rainstorm swept away his car.

“His son got out (of the car), but the father was taken away and a search operation is now underway,” Artopoeus said.

Authorities restricted traffic in the wider Volos area.

Flash floods in Greece in 2017 killed 25 people and displaced hundreds.

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