Heavy rains, gales lashes Greece Crete island, damaging roads, buildings

Greek authorities searched on Tuesday for a 60-year-old farmer missing on the Aegean island of Crete after days of cold, torrential rain and gales. Crete, Greece's southernmost island and one of its top tourist destinations, has been hit hardest by storms battering the country over the past few days, with roads, buildings and infrastructure damaged across the island and rivers flooding.

Television images showed a century-old bridge collapsing due to rising water levels. Some homes were protectively evacuated, state TV said. More than 30 firemen assisted by volunteers and divers were combing a flood-swollen stream for a farmer whose car was swept away on Monday. "It's been raining for six days non-stop, I mean (a) storm, not just rain, an incredible amount of water," said Nikos Lagoudakis, a senior fire brigade official.

Infrastructure ministry officials and experts travelled with a helicopter to Crete on Monday to assess the extent of the damage. Regional governor Stavros Arnaoutakis said the damage could reach dozens of millions of euros. In 2017, devastating flash floods following torrential rain killed at least 15 people and made scores homeless in towns west of the capital Athens. A wildfire in July that year killed 100 people in the seaside resort of Mati near Athens.

(With inputs from agencies.)