Two people have died in devastating flash floods which tore through Crete over the weekend. The body of Kostas Vergakis was recovered on Saturday after being discovered trapped in his car, though his female passenger was missing.
Rescue workers continued searching for the woman, eventually locating her body on Sunday after it had been swept out to sea. The body of the 49-year-old mother of two was located off Agia Pelagia, a seaside resort north-west of Crete’s capital, Heraklion.
The floods occurred on Saturday after torrential rains inundated areas of Sitia, Ierapetra, Livadia, Agios Ioannis Lasithiou, Agia Pelagia, Lygaria and in Heraklion, the deputy fire chief, Ioannis Artophios, said during an emergency briefing held on Saturday.
On Sunday the acting Interior Minister Stelios Petsas visited Heraklion to pledge 400,00 euro of immediate assistance to the flood victims.
Shortly before noon on Saturday, extreme flooding occurred in the regional areas of Heraklion and Lasithi with the a fire department spokesman emphasising that the Operations Centre of the Fire Department received 453 calls within an hour.
“The severity of the phenomenon at the local level exceeded any meteorological forecasts.
Also, 30 people in regional areas of Heraklion and Lasithi were transported to a safety by emergency rescue teams, including nine from the archaeological site of Sitia amongst which were two children.
