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Greek Ingenuity: How to Cross a Flooded Street in Athens

Athens flood
The unidentified man was captured on camera ingeniously crossing the flooded road on a ladder. Video screenshot/Tiktok

A Greek man found an ingenious way to deal with the flood in Athens on Thursday: he simply climbed on a ladder and “walked” through the water to his car on the other side of the road.

When he reached the vehicle he nonchalantly secured the ladder on the roof and drove away.

The scene captured on video has now gone viral. Many social media users are commenting on the ingenuity and coordination of the man. “If we wait for the government to take anti-flooding measures we are doomed,” one said.

Another user said that “it is now becoming necessary to always have a ladder when we drive around Athens.” Several point out that the man, even during his ordeal, kept wearing his face mask, while others speculate that his skill with the ladder means that he is either an electrician or house painter.

Hundreds of homes flooded in Athens as the Greek capital was hit by a weather front named Ballos.  Torrential rain caused power outages in several parts of the capital and flooding in the streets.

Bus passengers were evacuated after being trapped under a flooded underpass in southern Athens.

The government has issued warnings in Greek and English on mobile phones in the affected areas, urging people to avoid unnecessary movement in areas that could be flooded. Schools in Athens, Evia and the region of northern Greece near Thessaloniki will be closed today.

Athens a defenseless city at the mercy of a flood

The mayhem once again showed up the Greek capital as a defenseless city that is at the mercy of severe weather.

The result of the heavy rainfall – and Athens’ problematic infrastructure, which has not been sufficiently maintained and upgraded for decades – was serious traffic disruptions on main road arteries including Poseidonos, Konstantinoupoleos and Kifissias avenues and Hamosternas and Petrou Ralli streets, and the main arteries in Elefsina, Markopoulo and Glyka Nera.

The Kifissia-Piraeus electric railway (Metro Line 1) was cut in two due to water accumulation, and only at noon began to resume routes from Tavros to Piraeus and Omonia to Kifissia. Tram and bus services also had problems due to the rising waters.

There were power outages in areas as well, including the densely-populated Kallithea and Pangrati neighborhoods.

For many municipalities in Athens Thursday’s rainfall was equivalent to a third or a quarter of their annual average.

The storm called Ballos began to affect Greece on Wednesday night, and it will continue to batter most parts of the country on Friday.

It has brought heavy rains and downpours that after hitting the Ionian islands and the west of the country have now spread to mainland Greece.

The storm will weaken in the northwest on the afternoon. On Saturday, heavy rainfall and storms will affect the east of the country, but the front will gradually weaken.

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