Greece: Cyclone "Ianos" - At least two dead and serious damage

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A flooded street in Argostoli in the Ionian Islands

Photo: Nikiforos Stamenis / dpa

Medicane "Ianos" and another storm low swept over Greece on Saturday night - with serious consequences: According to the fire department, two people died, two more are missing.

Many could not leave their homes because of floods, said the fire department.

More than 600 people were rescued from apartments or otherwise rescued by rescue workers.

The Athens - Thessaloniki train connection was interrupted due to damage to the railway line.

Trail of devastation

Images and videos on social media show the trail of the devastation: fallen trees and electricity pylons, cars washed away, sailboats that were washed ashore by wind and waves, ships that sank in port.

In many places streets are flooded, in the southwest Greek city of Karditsa and the Ionian Islands the power went down in some cases.

A bridge in Karditsa collapsed under heavy rain, as TV images from Greece show.

A medicane like "Ianos" is a storm depression that can form in the Mediterranean region towards the end of summer when the water there is still high.

As soon as the storm reaches the mainland, it becomes less violent - but in this case "Ianos" moved south along the west coast of Greece.

In the past few years, Greece has been hit by storms and heavy rain, and injuries and deaths are often to be mourned.

Older Greeks assure that such severe storms never happened before.

"I was up to my waist in the water," said an 86-year-old on Saturday, the Skai TV station in the badly affected city of Karditsa.

"We used to have storms, but never as violent."

The head of the Greek Meteorological Office had previously said: "It was a rare phenomenon in the Mediterranean. Now with climate change it will probably happen more often."

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jpz / dpa / Reuters