A married couple from Austria who were on their honeymoon in Greece have not been seen since the house in which they were living was swept away by heavy rains.
The BBC has been informed by emergency authorities that they are hunting for the pair as well as numerous other people who have gone missing.
Flooding in the center of Greece forced residents of many towns to seek refuge on the rooftops of their homes when the water level in their communities rose to dangerous levels.
Since the passage of Storm Daniel across Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria earlier this week, it is now known that over a dozen people have lost their lives.
Thanasis Samaras, the proprietor of the facility, stated that an Austrian couple on their honeymoon in central Greece made the decision to seek refuge inside the bungalow that they had hired for their trip because of the severe rain.
However, the home in the coastal resort of Potistika, which is located close to Mount Pelion, was afterwards swept away by flash floods, as he explained to the BBC.
After he and the other guests had evacuated the premises, they had recommended to the couple that they do the same.
“The situation was in a very precarious state. In a situation like that, it is quite challenging to make a decision about what to do, as Mr. Samaras pointed out.
He went on to say that the pair, who were originally from the city of Graz in Austria, had tied the knot not long after they had arrived for their vacation.
The Greek fire service reported that it had a crew in the region hunting for missing people, including the newlyweds, who were reported to be among those missing.
In recent days, rainfall totals in some places of Greece reached up to 800 millimeters (31.5 inches), which is more than is typically observed in a whole year.
It was said that the Karditsa plain, which is located in the center of Greece, had turned into a lake, and the villages that are located surrounding Palamas had been submerged.
Giorgos Sakellariou, the mayor of Palamas, issued a desperate call for assistance on Greek television, stating that people were trapped in their homes and faced immediate danger. He pleaded with viewers to come to their aid.
Skai TV reported that he said the situation in Palamas was a tragedy, and he was cited as saying so. People are unable to leave their homes because of the situation. We are going to have people drowning if we do this.”
The collapse of multiple bridges in the area and severe damage sustained by the roadways have made it difficult to conduct rescue operations.
The footage shows helicopters from the fire department airlifting people who are caught in the water and on rooftops. This is part of a massive operation by the emergency services and the army to access villages that have been cut off.
Athens and the island of Skiathos, where hundreds of visitors are still stuck, were both impacted by the severe weather, as were the coastal districts of Volos and Pelion.
For the third consecutive day, the city of Volos has been without power and without access to running water. According to ERT’s reporting, the municipal government made the decision to transport water from the city’s swimming pools to one of the city’s hospitals so that chemotherapy and dialysis treatments could proceed as scheduled.
As the situation became more dire, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis decided to call off a significant public event that had been scheduled for the weekend. Instead of going to the unaffected places, he is making plans to go to the impacted ones.
Since Monday, Storm Daniel has been affecting Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria, and it is known that more than a dozen people have died as a result of the storm, with at least four of those deaths occurring in Greece.
Scientists who study climate change have warned that global warming will result in more water evaporating throughout the summer, which will lead to storms that are more violent.
For the most part of this summer, Greece has been battling destructive wildfires. This included the greatest one ever recorded in the EU, which took place a month ago and resulted in at least 20 deaths.
