Spain and Greece suffer devastating floods after summer of wildfires

Police and rescue services searched on Tuesday for three people missing after devastating floods hit central Spain as trains to the south resumed after thousands of passengers were left stranded.

The torrential downpour that swept over large swathes of Spain on Sunday and Monday, caused by a so-called cut-off low phenomenon, left three people dead and wreaked havoc on transport infrastructure, shutting roads, subway lines and high-speed train connections. The heaviest damage was in the provinces of Toledo and Madrid in the country’s centre.

Local authorities, the army’s emergency response corps, firefighters and law enforcement officers were working to “guarantee the stability of a key pipeline in the system supplying water to more than 270,000 people in the south of Madrid and Toledo”, minister for environment Teresa Ribera told reporters.

Ms Ribera was speaking from the town of Aldea del Fresno, southwest of Madrid, which was devastated by the flooding of the Alberche river.

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A middle-aged man went missing there with his son when their car was dragged into the overflowing river on Sunday night after an avalanche caused by a sudden rush. The minor was found alive after spending the night clinging to a tree he had climbed, but rescuers were still searching for his father, emergency services said.

The other two missing people, in Toledo province, were a 54-year-old woman whose vehicle was swept away while driving along a flooded road and an 83-year-old man who was dragged into the strong currents near his home, police said.

Railway infrastructure manager Adif said high-speed rail traffic between Madrid and the southern region of Andalucía had resumed on Monday morning after overnight repairs to damage caused by the storm.

The train connection between Madrid and Toledo, 70 kilometres south, remained closed.

Rail operator Renfe said that 50,000 passengers had changed their train tickets free of charge since Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, torrential rains have flooded homes and roads in Greece and a man died after a wall collapsed in the bad weather, the fire brigade said on Tuesday.

Storm Daniel has battered western and central Greece since Monday, prompting hundreds of calls to emergency services to pump out water just days after a deadly wildfire which burned for more than two weeks was brought under control in the north of the country.

“The man died after a wall collapsed near Volos city, probably due to bad weather,” a fire brigade official told Reuters, without providing more details.

According to the Athens News Agency, the wall collapsed when the man, a cattle breeder, was trying to reach his animals.

Footage from state broadcaster ERT showed cars in Volos, a port city on the Pagasetic Gulf, washed away by torrential rain on to muddy shores.

A man has been missing in Volos after his car was swept away by the rainstorm, fire brigade spokesperson Ioannis Artopoios told Skai television.

“His son came out [of the car] but the father was carried away and there is a search operation under way right now,” Artopoios said.

Authorities have restricted traffic in the wider area of Volos.

Flash floods in Greece in 2017 killed 25 people and left hundreds homeless. – Reuters