At least 14 people died on Wednesday after a freak overnight downpour with the force of a "waterfall" flooded three towns in Greece, officials said. The flooding, described as the worst in 20 years, struck the towns of Mandra, Nea Peramos and Megara, a semi-rural area west of Athens where many factories and warehouses are based.
"The water came down the mountain, millions of tonnes," Nea Peramos deputy mayor Stavros Fotiou told state TV ERT as locals braced for another night of heavy rainfall. "Our roads are completely destroyed... 1,000 homes have been flooded, that's a third of the town," he added. The greater Athens governor's office said the "force and danger posed by the (weather front) is unprecedented."