Storm batters Greece, killing one, flooding homes and disrupting travel

ATHENS, April 2 (Reuters) - ‌A man died ​and ​dozens of homes were flooded after heavy rain and gale-force winds battered Greece, leaving authorities ‌rushing to repair damage on Thursday.

Greek authorities have ⁠recovered the body of a man in the seaside holiday town ‌of Nea Makri, 35 ‌kilometres (21.75 miles) northeast of Athens, a fire brigade official told Reuters on Thursday. The man was believed ​to have been carried away by a torrent and trapped under a car as he attempted to ⁠cross a flooded street, local media reported.

The fire brigade said it has received ​hundreds of calls to rescue people trapped in floodwater and help clear roads of fallen ​trees as the Erminio storm ‌swept through Athens and several islands in the Aegean Sea on Wednesday.

Early on Thursday, crews ⁠were still removing debris, pumping water from flooded buildings and repairing damaged infrastructure east of the capital. Authorities also ⁠banned some ferries from sailing from the port of Piraeus near ​Athens to the Greek islands.

On the Mediterranean island of Crete, skies turned an eerie orange on Wednesday as winds of up to ‌force 9 on the Beaufort scale carried dust from North Africa, disrupting flights.

Greece, which ‌sits at Europe's southernmost tip, has suffered destructive floods ⁠and wildfires in recent ‌years, which analysts ​attribute to a rapidly warming climate.

(Reporting by Stamos Prousalis, Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Ros ‌Russell)

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