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| Cars damaged by a flooded water stream are seen in Halandri, northern Athens, capital of Greece, on Feb. 22, 2013. Heavy rain in Athens caused traffic jams, public transport delays and flooding of streets. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) |
ATHENS, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Heavy rainfall caused major floods across Athens and disrupted sea travel in the Aegean Sea on Friday, without severe injuries reported, according to local authorities.
The torrential rain, unusually heavy for Greek standards in recent years as Greek meteorologists noted, flooded central streets, metro stations and basements of homes and office buildings.
The Fire Brigade received more than 600 telephone calls to intervene over the past few hours, as several drivers had been trapped in their vehicles.
A female member of a technical team which was fixing a leak on the Greek parliament building's roof was slightly injured, when a metal part collapsed and she found herself hanging through a glass panel, local media reported.
The storm which started in the early hours of Friday, affected the operation of the mass transport system and caused traffic jams in many districts of Athens, while several routes of ferries to the islands have been cancelled.
Parts of the Greek capital also experienced short power cuts due to flooding in key electricity substations.
Experts of the Greek National Weather Service estimate that the adverse weather phenomenon will gradually recede by Saturday.
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