Record Rains Flood Greece Just as Wildfires Let Up

Torrential rain unleashed major floods in Central Greece on Tuesday that submerged streets and wreaked widespread damage, just as firefighters were containing enormous wildfires in the country. One man died, and at least one person was missing.

In neighboring Bulgaria and Turkey, at least six more died in the rain-caused flooding, including two swept away at a campsite in northwest Turkey, two in Istanbul and two on Bulgaria's southern Black Sea coast, according to The Associated Press. Four more people of a dozen who had been vacationing at the Turkish campsite remained missing Tuesday night.

As Greek television showed semi-submerged cars stuck on flooded streets and vehicles being swept into the sea or onto muddy beaches, the police banned traffic in three regions. The ban came a day after warnings by local authorities and Greece's fire service for people to avoid unnecessary travel during the onset of the wet front, Storm Daniel.

Greece's fire service said a 51-year-old Albanian national died after a wall collapsed on him; state news media identified him as a cattle breeder who was trying to reach his animals. A 42-year-old Greek man was missing after getting out of his car to try to push his 16-year-old son to safety amid raging floodwaters, a fire service spokesman, Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis, said by telephone. "The boy was found in the car," he said. "We're still looking for the dad."

The damage came days after major flooding elsewhere in Europe: In Spain, a slow-moving storm brought exceptional rainfall, leaving a trail of destruction and killing at least five people since Saturday.

On Saturday, two canyon experts drowned in flash flooding in a ravine in the Spanish Pyrenees, according to local news reports, when rain caused the water to increase tenfold in minutes. In Casarrubios del Monte, a village near Toledo that was drenched from Sunday night to Monday, a 20-year-old man died when floodwaters poured into an elevator where he was trapped. Two other victims near Toledo, one of whom was washed away with his car, were located on Monday.

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