Lasithi Plateau municipality declared in state of emergency after storm destroys roads and crops

The Municipality of Lasithi Plateau has been placed in a state of emergency following a decision by Greece’s General Secretary for Civil Protection, after severe storms flooded roads and farmland across the area, according to Cretalive.

“We are informing you that the Municipality of Lasithi Plateau is in a state of emergency by decision of the General Secretary for Civil Protection,” the municipality said in a statement.

Images from the plateau showed roads and farmland submerged under a wide stream of mud, with producers describing severe losses. Where roads once ran, a flooded landscape now remains, and officials estimate that thousands of stremmas (a Greek land unit, roughly a quarter-acre each) of farmland have been flooded, destroying a significant part of this year’s agricultural production. Early estimates point to extensive damage to potato and vegetable crops.

The Chavgas river overflowed its banks, sending water back into the fields and adding to what was already described as a dramatic situation, with renewed flooding across the farmland.

The Lasithi Plateau storm comes amid a broader spell of severe weather that has hit several areas of Lasithi and Rethymno, prompting school closures and emergency responses across the island. Elsewhere, the same storm system has been credited with raising water levels at the Aposelemis dam by roughly 1 million cubic metres.

Residents asked to file damage claims

The Municipality of Lasithi Plateau has asked residents who suffered damage to infrastructure, homes, businesses or other property from the recent storms to come forward starting Saturday to file a claim detailing the damage and its extent in their area.

Local authorities in other storm-hit areas of the island have also been assessing losses in recent days, including in Mylopotamos, where officials have likewise reported extensive damage requiring urgent intervention.