VOLOS, Greece (AP) — A second powerful storm in less than a month hammered parts of central Greece Thursday, sweeping away roads, smashing bridges and flooding thousands of homes.

The storm — called Elias — caused extensive flooding in the central city of Volos and left hundreds stranded in nearby mountain villages. The fire service carried out multiple rescues and evacuations, authorities said.

“All of Volos has turned into a lake,” the city’s mayor, Achilleas Beos, told state television. “People’s lives are in danger. Even I remained trapped, and 80% of the city is without power. … I don’t know where God found so much water. It’s like the story of Noah’s Ark.”

Bad weather earlier this month struck the same area, killing 16 people, and causing more than 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in damage to farms and infrastructure.

Other news An explosion following a lightning strike in the Uzbek capital kills 1 person and injures 162 M.S. Swaminathan, who helped India’s farming to grow at industrial scale, dies at 98 Koepka only identifies with 3 letters at Ryder Cup: USA, not LIV

Residents in Volos used plastic buckets to scoop mud out of their homes to try to protect their belongings. Among them was 83-year-old Apostolis Dafereras, who has lived in a suburb of the city since 1955.

“I have never seen anything like this,” Dafereras said as he tried to push mud and flood water out of his home.

Authorities said the worst damage was reported around Volos and in northern parts of the nearby island of Evia, an area vulnerable to flooding due to the impact of massive wildfires two years ago.

___

Follow full AP coverage of the climate and environment: https://apnews.com/climate-and-environment

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.