Greece Battles Worst Weather Event in Years as Helicopters Rush to Rescue Stranded Villagers

Greece is grappling with the aftermath of what the country’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has described as the most powerful weather event it has ever experienced. Torrential rainstorms have left at least 10 people dead, with the death toll expected to rise as floodwaters recede, revealing the scope of the devastation. Helicopters and lifeboats have been deployed to rescue hundreds of villagers stranded by the floodwaters, which have damaged or destroyed homes, bridges, and roads.

“It has been a relentless 24 hours,” Mitsotakis said during a visit to the crisis-hit area of Thessaly, 185 miles north of Athens. “We will do whatever is humanly possible to assist those affected.” The prime minister has promised to provide swift relief to those who have suffered, with damages to be recorded immediately.

The sheer scale of the destruction is stunning. More than a year’s worth of rainfall was dumped on central Greece in just 24 hours, leaving vast tracts of the country’s prime agricultural heartland submerged in muddy silt. Buildings, bridges, and roads have collapsed or been washed away, with satellite imagery revealing the extent of the devastation.

“I have never seen anything like it in my life,” said Stavroula Brazioti, a 104-year-old resident who has lived through wars, hardships, and hunger. “We’ve gone through so many difficult times, but we’ve never drowned.”

In some areas, the floodwaters are more than 2 metres deep, with fears that the death toll could rise as many people may not have had time to evacuate their homes. Thousands of animals are also thought to have died in the disaster.

“We have not yet fully realized the magnitude of this disaster,” said Prof Efthymios Lekkas, Greece’s leading natural disaster expert. “The agricultural production isn’t destroyed just for this year. The thick coat of silt means it is no longer fertile.”

As the operation continued, residents were seen being lifted to safety by helicopters from the roofs of their homes. Others were taken to safety in dinghies, while the government set up an operations centre to coordinate rescue efforts and restore supplies of power and running water.

Despite the chaos, there are concerns that the flooding could intensify further, with residents in parts of the central city of Larissa reporting rising water levels and a sense of danger as night fell. Four people remain missing in the city of Volos and the Pelion peninsula, with dozens of tourists among those rescued.

Greece’s climate crisis and civil protection minister, Vassilis Kikilias, has issued a warning, saying that “great care should be taken as the flooding could intensify at any moment.” The elite commando units have been dispatched to oversee rescue efforts that have already helped 1,800 people, leaving many more to be rescued.

In a region designated as a global heating hotspot, Greece has been on the frontline of the climate emergency. The flooding follows a summer described as the hottest on record, with temperatures exceeding 47C (116.6F) and hundreds of wildfires erupting on soil turned tinder dry.