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1 DEAD

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500+ EMERGENCY CALLS

25km FROM ATHENS

USA HERALD WORLD DESK • 6 min read

ATHENS, Greece — Greece endured one of its most dramatic spring storms in recent memory over the past 24 hours, as a dual assault of gale-force winds and a Saharan dust plume left a trail of flooding, destruction, and a haunting crimson sky across the country — claiming at least one life in the chaos.

The most striking spectacle unfolded over the island of Crete, where the collision of storm-driven winds and northward-drifting desert particulates from the Sahara turned the sky a deep, eerie red. Residents described the scenes as surreal, with coastal vistas typically known for their brilliant Mediterranean clarity replaced by hues more reminiscent of science fiction than southern Europe.

"The sky looked like it was on fire — and then the floodwaters came."

The human toll was felt most sharply on the mainland, where a 55-year-old man lost his life in the town of Nea Makri, roughly 25 kilometers northeast of Athens. According to Greek media reports, the man was swept beneath a car by rapidly surging floodwaters — a grim testament to the speed and force with which the storm inundated low-lying neighborhoods.

Greece's Fire Department mobilized across the greater Athens region, fielding more than 500 emergency calls in a single day. Crews responded to felled trees blocking roadways, homes swamped by rising water, and dozens of residents stranded by the flooding. Fire Department official Yiannis Tsingas confirmed to state radio that 33 people had been pulled to safety from high water.

Power outages rippled through multiple Athens suburbs throughout the day, while traffic in the city center ground to a halt as fallen trees and stalled, water-logged vehicles clogged key arteries. The storm did not spare the wider Aegean basin, either. On the island of Paros, the surge was severe enough to sweep several vehicles off roads, and a small bridge collapsed under the pressure of the floodwaters. The island's mayor announced that all schools would remain closed Thursday as a precautionary measure. Across other Aegean islands, streets were converted into channels of running water as stormy seas amplified the impact of the relentless rain.

Meteorologists say the phenomenon — the convergence of a low-pressure weather front with a Saharan dust event — is not uncommon in the eastern Mediterranean during late winter and spring. However, the intensity of this particular episode, combining extreme precipitation and gale-force surface winds with dense airborne particulates, made it one of the more visually dramatic and damaging weather events to strike Greece this year.

Authorities have urged residents in affected areas to remain indoors and avoid floodwater, warning that conditions may remain unstable as the storm system slowly moves east. Clean-up and damage assessments are underway across multiple municipalities.