Driver, 62, killed as floods sweep car onto beach on Greek island of Rhodes

Right · 2A 62-year-old man died on Wednesday 14 October after a torrent of water swept his car onto a beach during a heavy rainstorm on the Greek island of Rhodes, authorities said. 1 2 Right · 2The coast guard said his body was found near a small seaside village about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the town of Rhodes; GB News named the village as Stegna and said coastguard officers recovered the body there. 1 2 Right · 1GB News described the man as a hotel worker and reported that he had reportedly tried to retrieve his car near the beach in Archangelos when the floodwaters caught him. 2

Left · 1The Daily Mirror, citing residents who spoke to MEGA TV, likewise said the man worked at a local hotel and had tried to retrieve his car as it was swept away; it said ERT reported his body was later found among reeds and debris on the beach. 3 Right · 1Four cars were washed away, according to the coast guard, and footage on social media showed a car swept away in muddy waters. 1 Left · 1The Mirror said the coast guard confirmed a man had been found unconscious in the waters off Stegna, where four cars had been swept away, and placed the village about 20 miles south of Rhodes Town. 3

Right · 1Authorities advised people on Rhodes and other Aegean islands to limit travel as heavy rain flooded streets and made rivers overflow. 1 Right · 1According to GB News, authorities declared a state of emergency across Rhodes and schools were to stay closed the next day for inspections and damage assessments. 2 Right · 1GB News reported that the National Observatory of Athens recorded 202mm of rain in six and a half hours, reaching 264mm by early afternoon, and that emergency services handled more than 100 distress calls, 13 evacuations and 64 water-pumping operations. 2

Left · 1The Mirror, citing ERT, reported more than 200mm of rain in six and a half hours, and said the fire service had received 113 calls on Rhodes by 4pm local time; it gave regional totals of about 310mm in Evia, 280mm in Rhodes, 258mm on Skopelos and 173mm at Agia Triada in Attica, plus around 29,000 lightning strikes across the Aegean. 3 Right · 1Roads in Ialysos, Faliraki, Afandou and Archangelos were submerged, a rockslide blocked the Archangelos-Malona road, lightning set a house in Ialysos on fire, and the Palace of the Grand Master and the archaeological site at Lindos were closed. 2 Left · 1According to the Mirror, citing Proto Thema, tourist sites closed from 12.30pm as a precaution, including the archaeological sites of Lindos, Kamiros and Ialysos-Filerimos and the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes. 3

Right · 1Ferry departures from Piraeus and Lavrio were suspended amid force 10 winds, and code red weather alerts were issued across seven regions including Crete, Attica, Evia and the South Aegean. 2 Right · 1Elsewhere, floodwaters on Skiathos affected as many as 50 commercial premises and 20 homes, and on Evia the Kireas River burst its banks, cutting a key road and prompting evacuation orders. 2 Right · 1GB News called it Greece's second bout of devastating storms in a fortnight, noting earlier floods on Crete in which a 79-year-old shepherd was found dead and the death of a 58-year-old German tourist struck by lightning on a Rhodes beach. 2

Right · 1Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Evangelos Tournas confirmed widespread destruction nationwide, and the national meteorological service expected conditions to ease by Thursday, though authorities remained on high alert. 2 Left · 1The Mirror added that conditions were expected to improve gradually before further rain and thunderstorms hit eastern Thessaly, the Sporades, Evia and Central Greece from Friday evening into Saturday afternoon. 3