A motorist has narrowly escaped death when a mountain road in northwestern Greece collapsed beneath his vehicle during a violent storm that battered the country with gale-force winds and torrential rain.
A 60-meter section of the provincial route connecting Pramanta to Ioannina gave way as the driver approached, leaving his car dangling precariously on the crumbled edge of the precipice.
"I felt the earth shake and saw rocks falling," the driver, a resident of the nearby village of Agnanta, told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.
He managed to brake just as the asphalt sheared off. Emergency crews used a crane to pull the vehicle to safety; no injuries were reported.
"By miracle, there were no fatalities," said Central Tzoumerka Mayor Christos Hasiakos.
The incident occurred as a severe weather front hammered Greece, exacerbating damage in the Epirus region, which has struggled with saturated soil after months of heavy rainfall.
The National Observatory of Athens recorded wind gusts reaching 122 kph (76 mph) in Finokalia, Crete, and 115 kph (71 mph) on the island of Ikaria.
Fire service and Civil Protection crews worked through the weekend to clear debris and free trapped motorists as rivers swelled and landslides threatened villages across the northwest. Authorities in Preveza declared a state of high alert, while power lines and water mains snapped under the strain of the storm.
Infrastructure Minister Christos Dimas has pledged to assess the damage, which echoes the devastation seen in November when flash floods destroyed key bridges in the area.
Mr. Dimas noted that repair crews are currently evaluating the stability of the remaining road network.
Officials urged the public to avoid unnecessary travel as the weather system continued to affect the region into Sunday.