The Southern Ionian Islands (NW Greece) suffered an end-of-season battering last Friday as winds of up to 115 knots throttled through the islands causing un-told damage in the harbors and serious flood damage on land.

Published 4 years ago

The Ionian islands of Zakynthos, Kefalonia and Ithaca were all badly hit by the “Medicane” (Cyclone Ianos) on Friday, damaging/sinking a great many yachts and compromising buildings and uprooting trees with the huge amount of rainfall. Cruising boats in Argostoli Harbor, Kefalonia, reported wind gusts of up to 115 knots.

Those that headed north when the medicane was forecast escaped the wrath of Ianos. For those that remained it was a stressful and worrying 24 hours.

The small island of Ithaca suffered particularly badly with the heavy rainfall, as gallons of water rushed down the parched hillsides towards the sea dragging rocks and debris with it and depositing mountains of rubble throughout the villages, on the quayside and into the harbors.

The small harbors of Frikes and Kioni on Ithaca were particularly badly hit, although Vathi (the largest port on the Island) does have some shops and fuel stations open.

By Saturday night, Ianos had reached Crete, where heavy rainfall flooded streets and shops.

Medicanes have similar features to hurricanes and typhoons. They can form over cooler waters and usually move from west to east, whereas hurricanes move from east to west.

Warmer sea surface temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea can allow the storms to take on more tropical appearances and characteristics, increasing the wind speeds and making the storms more intense.

Greece was hit by a similar storm in 2018.

Storm Ianos could end up being one of the strongest medicanes on record.

Related News:

• Greece lashed by rare hurricane force storm – The Guardian
• Disasters from the passage of “Ianos” throughout Kefalonia (YouTube)
• Help Ithaca back on their feet – Frikes and Kioni Disaster Relief (GoFundMe)

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