A man died near Athens Thursday as a three-day storm front lashed Greece with gale-force winds, causing localised floods and disrupting transport.The fire department said the man, around 50, was found trapped under a car in Nea Makri, a rural area northeast of Athens.
It added that it had received nearly 500 emergency calls in the greater Athens area, including more than 30 rescue requests.
Authorities issued emergency warnings and shut down schools in areas east of Athens, the Dodecanese islands, the Cycladic islands and Crete. On the island of Poros, flooding knocked down a bridge.
Most of Greece's ferries, a key transport link for the country's many Mediterranean islands, were confined to port on Wednesday.
The EMY state weather service in a statement forecast "severe weather" for Thursday in most parts of the country "with prolonged and intense rain and thunderstorms, and possibly localised hailstorms".
On Wednesday, several flights to Crete had to be rerouted as an African dust storm blanketed the island.
The storm front is expected to ease Friday.
