High waves and violent hurricane gusts: A medicane passed over Greece.
Videos show the severe effects of the weather phenomenon on the islands.
The weather * is going crazy in Greece.
There was a violent storm in the Ionian Sea *.
A so-called
Medicane
, a kind of hurricane in the Mediterranean, rolled towards the region.
One woman was killed and two people are still missing
(Update September 19)
.
Update from September 19, 2020, 3:26 pm:
The
Medicane "Ianos"
and another storm
low
over the North Aegean caused severe damage in many parts of Greece in the night from Friday to Saturday.
One woman was killed
and two other people are missing.
Because of the flood, many could not leave their homes, said the fire department on Saturday morning.
Rescue workers freed more than 600 people from their homes or otherwise saved them.
The Athens - Thessaloniki railway line was also damaged, so that the connection was interrupted.
Pictures and videos on
social media
and in Greek media show the
trail of devastation
(see previous update): fallen trees and electricity pylons, cars washed away, sailboats that were washed ashore by wind and waves or sunk in the harbor.
In many places streets are under water.
Video: Devastation and spring tides: Hurricane "Ianos" hits holiday islands
Older Greeks
assure that such heavy storms
never
happened
before
.
"I was up to my hips in the water," said an 86-year-old on Saturday, the TV station Skai in the badly affected city of Karditsa.
"We used to have storms,
but never as violent
."
Monster storm: Medicane reaches Greece - Extreme videos show how storms hit the island
Update from September 18, 2020, 10.30 p.m .:
The
Medicane “Ianos”
swept over Greece on Friday.
New videos on Twitter are still showing the extent of the destruction.
Roads were flooded by the heavy rain.
The island of
Kefalonia
was
particularly
hard
hit.
Catastrophic flooding in Greece today (#Kefalonia) as an intense tropical-like cyclone #Medicane #Ionas slams the island.
Reports of the entire Jerusalem beach eroding away - changed forever.pic.twitter.com/PovJY2kVgq
- Scott From Scotland (@ScottDuncanWX) September 18, 2020
Update from September 18, 2020, 5:39 pm:
The
Mediterranean hurricane "Ianos" moved
along the west coast of Greece on Friday.
The storm caused severe damage in some regions.
The dpa reports on dozens of damaged or destroyed boats and yachts, blocked roads and devastated campsites and beach bars.
There was also a power cut on the Peloponnese peninsula.
Numerous
tourists
shared their impressions of the events on Twitter.
This is just a medicane they said ... # ΙΑΝΟΣ #ianos #udine pic.twitter.com/hWvcifhXg2
- Chris Schmitz (@Schmistian) September 18, 2020
On the
island of Kefalonia
, numerous boats were also destroyed by the storm and pressed against the harbor wall.
# Ιανος Kefalonia #Ianos #medicane #Medistorm #Cyclone #Greece #severeweather #extremeweather pic.twitter.com/N3ZWapr8TY
- GcRap (@The_Georgios) September 18, 2020
Monster storm: Medicane reaches Greece - power outages and severe damage
Update from September 18, 2020, 1:11 p.m.:
The
medicane "Ianos"
slowly moved along the coast of the
Greek Peloponnese peninsula
on Friday
and caused serious damage.
This is shown by the first reports from the Greek civil defense and state television.
The power went out in numerous regions in western
Greece
and on the Peloponnese peninsula.
Several boats were damaged in the ports of the holiday islands of Zakynthos, Lefkada, Kefalonia and Ithaca.
A campsite in Kefalonia had to be evacuated.
The
schools
in several regions
of Western Greece
were closed on Friday.
The ferry connections to the islands of Kefalonia, Zakynthos and Ithaca had to be interrupted.
The civil defense and the meteorological office warned that the
medicane "Ianos" could
change course in the next few hours and cause serious damage on the mainland.
Heavy rains were expected in central Greece.
The storm is not expected to abate until Sunday night.
Meanwhile, a
refugee
boat is in distress
.
State television
(ERT
)
reported that the boat with around 50 migrants on board, which was en route to Italy, was in danger of capsizing in a storm with gusts of eleven
.
The
coast guard
and passing ships had tried in vain to help the people.
Because of the high waves, this was not possible.
“What the tugs did is madness,” said an officer of the coast guard of the
dpa
.
Nobody leaves port with a storm like this.
Monster storm: Medicane reaches Greece - tourist videos show how storms hit the island
Update from September 18, 9.45 am
: The
Medicane (hurricane) "Ianos" is
currently raging on the
Greek islands
in the Ionian Sea.
The island of
Kefalonia
is
particularly
affected.
On Twitter, numerous videos show the force of the storm, which brings heavy rainfalls and wind speeds of up to 180 km / h with it.
#Medicane #ianos is currently moving through Kefalonia.
Lots of water and an incredibly strong wind.
pic.twitter.com/ioOt9lr7ip
- Ion Linardatos (@IonLinardatos) September 18, 2020
Tourists even report
power outages
caused by the
Medican on
social media
.
The worst seems to be ahead of the islanders and holidaymakers alike.
Worst is yet to come apparently.
Will be in the eye of #Ianos in a couple of hours 👍🏻 perfect #Kefalonia pic.twitter.com/A7NjsWaHwc
- Jack 🏆 (@ Jack_T_92) September 18, 2020
Storm: Medicane "Ianos" reaches Greece - Ryanair has to reroute flights
Update from September 18, 7.27 a.m
.: Because of the
Medicanes in Greece
(see original
message )
the first flights were diverted on Friday.
Two
Ryanair
aircraft
could not
land
as planned on the island of
Kefalonia
in the Ionian Sea in
the morning
and were
diverted
to
Athens
.
According to the
ANA
news agency
, a sailboat was swept away by the waves off the island of Ithaki, and the two occupants were able to save themselves on the shore.
The civil protection authority warned against any unnecessary travel during the storm.
Update from September 17, 8:03 p.m
.: The
Medicane
, a
hurricane in the Mediterranean
has
reached
Greece
.
Thursday afternoon was particularly the west of the country around the islands of Zakynthos and Kefalonia and Ithaca.
The civil defense has already alerted all affected regions: “Don't take to the streets.
Secure everything that can fly around.
Go to the higher floors if there is a flood. ”
Heavy rains and stormy winds are also expected
in the capital
Athens
on Friday
.
One could, however, "not say exactly how the
Medicane will
move," said meteorologist Lagouvardos on state television.
Storm in Greece: Worry about the Medicane (hurricane) - "Could be pretty violent"
First report from September 16
: Athens -
Summer is back
in
Germany
.
An acute heat high is currently causing unusual temperatures above the 30 mark *.
These spheres may soon be a thing of the past again, but all in all, things can be endured well in Germany at the moment.
In the meantime, things are different in
Greece
- in the
Mediterranean region
it is getting pretty uncomfortable.
Weather: Hurricane in Greece - what is a medicane?
The fault is a so-called
Medicane
, a hurricane *
in the Mediterranean
.
The weather phenomenon is wreaking havoc in the
Ionian Sea
between
Italy
and
Greece
and is not that unusual for late summer and early autumn when the water temperatures are highest.
The tropical-like storm is said to bring waves up to ten meters high and hurricane gusts of up to 180 kilometers per hour.
A so-called “warm core” is
characteristic of a
Medicane
, as
RTL meteorologist Björn Alexander
explains to wetter.de.
"That means that the warmest air is right in the center of the storm - similar to the eye of a
hurricane
."
Weather: Worry about the Medicane - Storm in Greece "could be pretty violent"
The meteorologist describes the situation on site as follows: “
A very dangerous storm is brewing in the
Mediterranean
.
Even if the weather computers still see some uncertainties in the details, it could get pretty intense. ”The water temperatures in the
Ionian Sea
could also be a decisive negative factor
.
“Since they are sometimes over 27 degrees, the storm, which is now developing from a 'normal' low, has more and more tropical characteristics.
From a meteorological point of view, it becomes a so-called medicane - a Mediterranean
hurricane
. "
Hurricane-like storm with hurricane gusts, thunderstorms and torrential rain threatens Greece on Friday
Let's hope that the extremely strong forecast storm does not come like this: https://t.co/RKej15F010 #Wetter #Medicane #Greece #Ionis #Unwetter #Griechenland # Hurricane #storm pic.twitter.com/qoJ7goVaVA
- wetteronline.de (@WetterOnline) September 16, 2020
Weather: Medicane sweeps over Greece - holiday islands endangered by hurricane phenomenon
In the
Ionian Sea there
are some popular holiday islands such as
Corfu
or
Kefalonia
.
Because of the
Medicanes
, it could
now become problematic
for tourists
, as
Björn Alexander
explains: "On the open sea, the weather models currently calculate peak gusts on Thursday evening and on Friday night up to 180 kilometers per hour."
The
Ionian Islands
and
parts of Greece
“could also get heavy hurricane gusts over 120 km / h on the coasts.
There are also heavy, thundery downpours, which should bring 100 to 200 liters per square meter at the top.
In addition, the storm lashes the
Mediterranean
meter high.
The waves should reach between five and ten meters. ”So the region is facing unrelaxed days.
(as) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network
When does the first snow come?
Now there are first forecasts *.
List of rubric lists: © Nikiforos Stamenis / AP / dpa