A man was swept away by a swollen stream and killed in the Athens suburb of Nea Makri overnight as Storm Erminio lashed Attica with torrential rain, fierce winds and thunderstorms, causing widespread flooding and traffic chaos across the region.
The victim, a Polish national, was dragged into a flooded watercourse and became trapped beneath a vehicle. Four firefighters with two units worked to free him before he was transported by ambulance, but he did not survive.
Traffic police closed Marathon Avenue at Plateon Street in the direction of Athens after floodwaters made the road impassable. Sections of Stamata-Anoixeos Avenue and Marathon Avenue between Kallitechnoupoli and Arionos Street in Rafina were later reopened after emergency teams cleared the route.
In Stamata and other eastern Attica communities, traffic came to a complete standstill. Greece's elite EMAK rescue unit and volunteers worked through the night to evacuate stranded motorists and restore access.
The fatality marks the storm's first confirmed death and underscores warnings issued earlier this week by meteorologists who had placed Attica under red alert and cautioned that intense short-duration rainfall could overwhelm the capital's drainage network and trigger dangerous flash flooding.
Forecasters had projected peak 24-hour accumulations of up to 150 millimeters in parts of Attica, with a second and more powerful wave of rain expected to strike Wednesday afternoon and evening.
Emergency services remained on heightened alert as Storm Erminio continued to track northeast.
Attica remains under red alert.