Chaos on Greece's Crete island from heavy floods

Homes, shops, beaches and streets flooded on Crete in Greece on Tuesday (November 10) after heavy storms wreaked havoc on the northern part of the island.

Images showed dozens of cars floating in the sea, in streets, toppled over each other and slammed against trees while roads and sidewalks collapsed from the torrents. Riverbeds overflowed, and floodwaters reached more than one metre as they rushed into homes and shops, immersing entire neighbourhoods in water. Water pipes burst, while the floodwaters created landslides on sides of cliffs.

The fire brigade received more than 300 calls from residents, mainly to pump out floodwater from homes and shops, and assisted 18 people trapped in cars or buildings to move to safety in the regions of Heraklion and Rethymon. At least 60 fire-fighters with 20 vehicles were taking part in operations on the island, along with Crete's Special Disaster Response Units, a fire brigade official said.

"Huge damage, huge. We phoned the fire brigade and they said 'wait your turn'. We are waiting for them to come to help us to see what can be done," said one resident.

"In all the years I have lived here I have never experienced such a thing. It is something we ourselves could not believe," said another.

There were no reports yet of serious injuries, the fire brigade official said.

Meteorologists had issued a weather warning for the country, predicting heavy rainstorms.

It is the second time in three weeks that the Mediterranean island has been hit by a freak storm.

(Production: Vassilis Triandafyllou, Deborah Kyvrikosaios, Andreas Koulatsoglou)

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