Medicane Ianos Lashes Kefalonia, Ithaca, and Zakynthos, Causing Floods, Blackouts, Fallen Trees

The Ionian islands Kefalonia, Ithaca and Zakynthos found themselves in the vortex of the severe weather system “Ianos” during Thursday night, with power outages in several areas due to the strong winds and fallen trees it brought with it.
The residents of the three islands that were hit the hardest by the “Medicane” so far remain on alert, fearing a new hit from the cyclone. For this reason, the Coordinating Body for Civil Protection of the Regional Unit of the Ionian Islands issued a recommendation to all residents of Zakynthos to continue to limit movement throughout the island.
Kefalonia residents saw the streets in some villages turn to rivers, while floods caused damage throughout the area. During the night, trees fell both in the town of Argostoli and in villages of the municipality. In several cases, the trees have also swept away Public Power Company cables along with them.
The coastal zone of Argostoli turned into a lake, and in an emergency announcement the municipality asked the residents to stay in their homes until the public works crews, Fire Brigade and PPC staff repair the extensive damage and restore the road network.

Floods in Agia Efimia, on the Greek island of Kefalonia. Credit: Makis Papadatos/Facebook
On Ithaca, strong gusts of wind reaching even 10 points on the Beaufort scale (59 miles per hour) swept away anchored boats in the harbor.
Ithaca Prefect Thanasis Livitsanis spoke to SKAI television on Friday morning saying that there is a general electrical blackout on the island as well, while floods caused damage which has not even been assessed yet.

In a post on Facebook, Ithaca Mayor Dionysis Stasinos described the situation as “very serious” and urged citizens to avoid travel, because “the next hours will be difficult.”
On Thursday, Greek Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias declared a state of special mobilization of civil protection in Ilia, Zakynthos, Kefalonia and Ithaca due to the weather system “Ianos”.

On Zakynthos, the phenomena are particularly severe, with winds there also reaching reaching 10 on the Beaufort scale. It was midnight when the island was hit by “Ianos”, with people staying sheltered in their homes per the urging of the Civil Protection Ministry.
In the Kalamaki area, a power pylon caught fire near a hotel, causing firefighters and crews from the Zakynthos Regional Unit to rush to the spot. The fire was extinguished immediately, but the hotel has now been left without electricity, along with approximately  ten houses nearby. The villages of Kalamaki, Argassi, Vanato, Lagopodo, Katastari, Mouzaki, Alykes are still without power.