Photo credit: AMNA
Greek scientists said on Monday that the number of severe weather events in the country was approximately 40 percent higher in 2019 compared with the average number experienced during the period 2000-2019.
According to data analyzed by researchers Costas Lagouvardos and Katerina Papayiannakis from the National Observatory of Athens’ meteo service, 2019 was a year with extremely intense phenomena, which killed an unusually high number of victims and caused major disasters, including flooding and lightning strikes.
Specifically, the scientists found the following:
- Of the 33 total incidents of especially severe weather phenomena, 15 had major social and economic repercussions.
- The areas most affected by the inclement weather were Attica (14 times), the islands of the Dodecanese archipelago (8), Chania on Crete (7) and Chalkidiki (6).
- A total of 32 people died due to strong winds, nine from flooding and eight from freezing temperatures.
- Four of the victims of the severe weather were struck by lightning, which is the highest number of victims hit by lightning in one year since 2001, when records of this type of specific fatality were first recorded.
The majority of the weather phenomena observed during these 33 incidents included heavy rain and flooding (65 percent), snowfall (12 percent) and whirlwinds/windstorms (10 percent).
The largest number of the above-mentioned incidents took place in autumn and winter, especially during the months of November and January.
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