ATHENS: Heavy rains in Greece have been wreaking havoc across the country, with some desperate residents being forced onto their roofs to escape flash flooding.

In Athens alone, firefighters were deployed more than 1,400 times on Thursday and Friday to rescue people and to pump water out of flooded homes, the civil defence force said.

Many waterlogged roads were impassable and many vehicles were left abandoned. In Athens, the two main coastal roads and the highway leading to northern Greece were closed, as were most schools and all state agencies not involved with rescue efforts.

“We must be careful, the danger is great,” said Christos Stylianides, Greece’s minister for climate change and civil protection, on state television.

Severe downpours were continuing on the islands of Rhodes, Kos, Santorini, Mykonos and parts of Crete on Friday. Forecasters do not expect the weather to improve until Sunday.

Greek media reported that in some places one year’s worth of rain fell in a matter of hours.

There were no casualties as of Friday, authorities said. — dpa