A state of emergency grips northeastern Greece after heavy rainfall and cross-border runoff caused the Evros River to burst its banks, submerging roughly 150,000 acres of land and threatening residential settlements.
The Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection activated a "Red Code" alert for the Evros regional unit on Tuesday, warning of extreme flood risks through Friday.
The crisis escalated after an embankment collapsed in the Amori area near Lavara, sending torrents of water into surrounding agricultural fields.
Floodwaters have reached critical depths in the municipality of Pythio Didymoteicho.
The river crested at 7.15 meters late Monday—surpassing the 7-meter emergency threshold—before receding slightly to 6.75 meters.
Despite the temporary drop, the danger persists as neighboring Bulgaria warns of continued massive water discharges into the river network over the next 36 hours.
Water has completely inundated the local railway line, a police station, and vast tracts of farmland near Pythio, with depths exceeding 2.5 meters in some areas.
Floodwaters have breached the settlement's peripheral road and reached residential yards, though authorities report no injuries or structural damage to homes thus far.
Emergency crews and the Fire Service are working around the clock with heavy machinery to build earthworks and seal compromised drainage points.
Local authorities have closed all access roads from the main vertical highway, urging residents to remain vigilant and request sandbags to fortify their properties through the night.
The relentless deluge, stretching from the Greece-Bulgaria border down to the sea near Alexandroupoli, marks one of the region's most severe flooding events in recent years, inflicting heavy losses on local crops and infrastructure.