Flooding and severe storms in the Black and Mediterranean Seas led to catastrophic consequences not only for Turkey, but also for Greece and Bulgaria. Some resorts were washed away and tourists were urged to climb to the upper floors because of the risk of flooding. On the Greek island of Skiathos, due to storms and heavy rains, the famous airport was closed, where tourists like to take pictures against the backdrop of landing planes, and in Bulgaria several hundred tourists had to be evacuated.
The Greek Meteorological Service said 75.4 centimeters of rain fell in a village in the Pelion region late Tuesday evening, the highest level recorded since at least 2006.
According to the Greek press, the police banned traffic in the city of Volos, the nearby mountainous region of Pelion, as well as on the resort island of Skiathos. In these regions, record rains have caused the death of at least one person: a man died under a retaining wall that fell on him. Another five people are listed as missing: they may have been carried away by streams of water.
Flood waters flooded the streets and washed away cars. In addition, rockfalls blocked roads and power outages occurred in many areas.
On the resort island of Skiathos, “planes cannot approach the airport” due to flooding.
Greek Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said heavy rain is expected to subside after Wednesday afternoon. He advised residents of the affected areas to stay at home.
Tourists in Bulgaria also had a hard time: here the main blow of the elements fell on the resort of Tsarevo.
Hundreds of tourists vacationing along the coast had to be evacuated, the remaining resort authorities urged to climb to the upper floors, as the lower ones were flooded.
There are also casualties: at the moment, as Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov said, two people have died and three are missing. Whether there were tourists among them is not reported. As the local press adds, the reason for the catastrophic consequences of the floods is not only climate change, which is responsible for everything, but also the disgusting maintenance of infrastructure.