‘What we are seeing is unprecedented’: flash floods cause ‘biblical damage’ in Athens, leave 14 people dead

Flash floods on the outskirts of Athens have killed at least 14 people, injured dozens more and caused “biblical damage” as roads were turned into torrents of mud and debris.

“Cars are stuck in mud in hills where it is raining hard, homes have been flooded and people are missing,” said Nikos Toskas, the minister for public order and citizen protection. “The death toll may rise. The bad weather is forecast to continue until the weekend.”

Toskas, who toured several of the affected areas on Wednesday, described scenes of catastrophe. A section of the highway between Athens and Corinth had caved in, businesses had been inundated and power lines had gone down as the floods hit.

“They’ve affected a very large region in some of the poorest parts of Athens,” Toskas said.

The flooding followed heavy rain overnight. As roads turned into rivers of mud, cars were carried away and tossed into piles, and walls from gardens and small buildings collapsed. Deluged with debris and rubble, some streets became impassable.

Twelve of the people killed – four women and eight men – were found in or near Mandra, a small town on the western outskirts of Athens that was hardest hit by the flood. The bodies of two more men were recovered from the sea. It was thought likely both had been swept into the bay at Eleusina, 11 miles from Athens’ city centre.