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The heavy storm that hit the region of Athens took one life and caused considerable damage.

A 40-year-old man died in his car in the Athens suburb of Menidi. Doctors at Nea Ionia hospital where he was taken established that the cause of death was drowning. His 70-year-old mother, who was with him in the car, was transported to a hospital in Athens with a neck injury.

The second victim was a 70-year-old woman who was dragged by a vast amount of water on a street passing outside a school in the suburb of Petroupoli. At the same time, a passing car hit the woman, seriously injuring her. She was transported to Evangelismos hospital, where she died several hours later.

The pouring rain and the strong thunderstorm that hit Athens from early in the morning were accompanied by a tornado. It is clearly visible on the video that residents of the Psychico neighbourhood took with a smartphone camera.

The fire department received more than 200 alerts for flooded houses and fallen trees on streets and sidewalks. According to meteorologists, the rainfall was 90 litres per square metre.

A strong thunderstorm raged over the island of Samos in the early hours today, which amateur photographer Manolis Thravalos managed to capture.

He says that the storm was local and extremely strong. "It arose over the island at around 02:00 am, with heavy rain and hail, which lasted for a long time, especially in the eastern part of Samos, and with heavy thunder."

In Kamatero neighbourhood near Athens, heavy rain and strong wind demolished an unoccupied three-storied building. Its residents left it last year at the urgent request of the district administration in Attica, precisely because of concerns that it might collapse in the event of such severe weather conditions. After the building collapsed, the teams of the district administration were sent to the region to remove the construction materials in order to avoid the risk of clogged ditches and flooding, as in the coming hours the weather will further deteriorate.

The sudden rain that poured over Athens caused traffic problems on many main roads. Enormous amounts of water on the streets blocked the cars and the fire department had to intervene to resume the traffic.

The civil protection service of the district administration has issued a notice stating that it is in a state of full readiness to deal with problems due to bad weather.

There have been no serious problems in the northern suburbs of Athens, except for flooding in one of the schools in the neighbourhood of Likovrisi. Large amounts of water had accumulated on the ring road in Egaleo and the junction on Kavalas Avenue.

According to the Greek media, one elementary school student in the Petroupoli neighbourhood was dragged by rainwater under a parked car. Teachers and citizens who were around immediately rushed to help the child that, according to sources, was not seriously injured and is in good condition at present.

Meteorologists are warning of heavy rain and winds throughout Greece in the coming hours.