Terrifying moment European holiday island is swamped by torrential rain as cars swept away in raging floods
THIS is the terrifying moment a European holiday hotspot is left swamped by torrential rain and intense floods.
A powerful storm triggered widespread panic in the region with schools shut down, cars dramatically swept away and an emergency “stay inside” warning imposed.
The popular Greek island of Paros was the latest region on the continent to be badly affected by devastating rainfall.
Holiday towns Parikia and Naousa were left in disarray as horror footage shows the raging floodwater streaming onto the streets.
Cars were caught up in the rapids as an emergency ban was imposed on all traffic except for rushing emergency vehicles.
Local Paros officials said 13 people were left stranded in the storm as rescue teams were deployed to save those caught up.
No one has been reported as injured or missing so far.
Concerning video shows fast-moving water travelling through the streets and past holiday homes.
The rapids completely swept over cars and pulled them across the roads before submerging them beneath the high tide.
Emergency workers were also seen battling against the conditions to try and rescue many of the motors.
After the weather subsided, several wrecked cars were seen scattered by the roadside.
Paros Mayor Kostas Bizas told ocal media: “We’ve had drivers trapped on roads near Lefkes and the Parikia-Naoussa axis.”
Authorities were forced to shut down local schools in Paros where they remained closed as of Tuesday morning.
The civil protection service also sent phone alerts to residents ordering them to stay indoors until clean up operations were completed.
Several neighbouring islands to the south east of the mainland in the Aegean Sea are still under severe weather warnings.
Even Mykonos was left dealing with the torrid conditions today.
Local meteorologists predict the bad weather will continue across Greece for much of Tuesday and into Wednesday.
The country’s National Meteorological Service issued an updated Emergency Weather Bulletin saying severe rain and thunderstorms are expected.
Greece‘s spell of bad weather comes as another popular holiday hotspot in Spain was left severely flooded by a river of ice, earlier this month.
Devastating footage shows the swamped streets of a town in Costa Blanca after a hail storm and days of torrential rain left cars trapped in deep waters.
Concerned tourists and residents of Santa Pola were forced to stay inside as they watched on as the weather took a nasty turn this week.
A massive hail storm ended up mixing with heavy rain before it created a terrifying number of icebergs travelling down the street.
The neighbouring town of Rojales was also battered by the weather as a yellow alert was issued across Alicante.