Greece Floods: Storm Agneta Sweeps Cars Away, Rhodes Submerged

Storm Agneta has Greece in its grip, and Rhodes is taking the hardest hit. Flash floods dragged cars away and submerged streets on the popular holiday island, footage shows. An overnight alert urged residents and tourists to head for higher ground and stay inside, while schools closed Monday. Some locals were forced to climb onto their roofs to escape rising waters, according to local media. Firefighters have been swamped with calls to pump water from flooded homes.

The storm is lashing western and northern Greece, plus the eastern Aegean islands, and forecasters say it won't let up until Wednesday. Rainfall is set to intensify Monday across the Ionian Islands and coastal central Greece, where thunderstorms continue to pound. The civil protection agency is telling people to secure loose objects, avoid crossing streams and torrents on foot or by car, and stay away from the coast.

This isn't Greece's first rodeo with deadly floods this season. Just weeks ago, a 62-year-old man died when a torrent swept his car onto a beach in Rhodes. His body was found near a seaside village about 19 miles from Rhodes town, and four cars were washed away, the coast guard said.

Spain got slammed last month too. Storm Adam cut off towns along the Mediterranean coast, leaving four dead. Two bodies were found in the Valencian town of Oliva—a 79-year-old woman in her home and a man who suffered a fatal heart attack at a campsite. In Sagunto, a body washed up on the beach, and near Barcelona, a woman died after falling into a rain-swollen stream. Security forces carried out more than 400 rescues in the Valencia region, according to government representative Pilar Bernabe.

The scenes echo the catastrophic flooding that killed more than 230 people in Valencia two years ago. Meteorologists say human-driven climate change is making these extreme weather events more frequent and destructive. For now, Greece is bracing for more rain as Storm Agneta continues its rampage until Wednesday.