Eight workers remain trapped in Samaria Gorge as floodwaters block exit path

Eight workers remain trapped inside Samaria Gorge in Chania after torrential rain turned the hiking path into a raging torrent, making it unsafe for them to move, authorities say.

Footage from ERTnews showed the sea spilling onto the old harbour promenade in Chania, with waves covering benches along the waterfront as storm runoff turned into fast-moving streams through the city.

Workers told to stay in place

According to reporting by ERT’s Eftychia Pentaraki, the eight workers have been trapped since September 29 at a point roughly seven kilometres into the 13-kilometre gorge. The group includes six staff from OFYPEKA and two forest wardens. Authorities instructed them to remain at a safe location, saying the current conditions make it impossible to move them out safely.

One of the trapped workers, described as an experienced coordinator of visitor operations for the gorge, told ERT Chania that the group is safe and has supplies sufficient until Wednesday. “We have wood, we have food until Wednesday, we are calm, we have communication, after that we don’t know what will happen,” the worker said, adding that the only safe way out is for the rain to stop and the water to recede.

Record rainfall at Xyloskalo

The severity of the storm is reflected in rainfall measured at Xyloskalo, the gorge’s northern entrance. The National Observatory of Athens’ automatic weather station network recorded 318 millimetres of rainfall there, meaning the equivalent of 10 to 12 months of normal rainfall fell within two 24-hour periods.

The eight workers, including three women, remain safe for now as they wait for the water to recede and conditions to improve enough for a safe evacuation. For background on the wider network of hiking routes affected, see Gorges in Crete.