At least 14 people have died, five are missing and dozens more have been injured due to floods in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria.
The death toll from fierce storms and flooding in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria rose to 14 on Wednesday after rescue teams in the three neighbouring countries recovered seven more bodies.
Greece
In Greece, record rainfall caused at least three deaths near the central city of Volos and in Karditsa, further to the west, according to the fire service. Three people were reported missing.
Authorities banned traffic in Volos, the nearby mountain region of Pilion and the resort island of Skiathos, where many households remained without electricity and running water on Wednesday. Traffic was also banned in another two regions of central Greece near Volos, while the storms were forecast to continue until at least Thursday afternoon.
The storm is also affecting the regions of Trikala, Karditsa, and Fthiotide in central Greece, where authorities have decided to pre-emptively evacuate several localities.
Turkey
A flash flood at a campsite in northwestern Turkey near the border with Bulgaria, killed at least five people – with three found dead on Wednesday. Rescuers were still searching for one person reported missing at the campsite.
Another two people died in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, where Tuesday’s storms inundated hundreds of homes and workplaces in several neighbourhoods.
The surging flood waters affected more than 1,750 homes and businesses in the city, according to the Istanbul governor’s office. They included a line of shops in the Ikitelli district, where the deluge dragged parked vehicles and mud into furniture stores, destroying the merchandise, DHA reported.
Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, a storm caused floods on the country’s southern Black Sea coast. The bodies of two missing people were recovered from the sea on Wednesday, raising the overall death toll to four.
Video showed cars and camper vans being swept out to sea in the southern resort town of Tsarevo, where authorities declared a state of emergency.
Most of the rivers in the region burst their banks and several bridges were destroyed, causing serious traffic problems.
Tourism Minister Zaritsa Dinkova said that about 4,000 people were affected by the disaster along the entire southern stretch of Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.