Horror scenes have unfolded across Europe as the continent is battered by killer Storm Harry, which has seen people swept to their deaths in Greece and Italy amid torrential downpours and water surges
Coffins were left scattered after a brutal landslide in the Italian mountains as a brutal storm swept through Europe. Around 20 coffins ended up piling into a ravine after heavy rains destroyed part of the old cemetery in San Mauro Marchesato.
Wooden wreckage was seen stacked below the graveyard with floral garlands and framed images of deceased loved ones seen scattered amid the heartbreaking debris, triggered by a landslide after around eight inches of rain fell in just 24 hours.
It comes just a day after Italians were seen running for their lives when a tsunami-style storm surge flooded the streets of Sicily as the Mediterranean was battered by powerful Storm Harry.
Meanwhile in the Greek seaside town of Astros, a 53-year-old coastguard tragically lost his life while on duty when a powerful wave swept him away.
The horror scenes were captured on mobile phone footage which showed the monster wave crashing over a barrier before raining down onto a group of onlookers.
And roads were turned into rivers in Glyfada, Greece, where severe floods battered the popular holiday hotspot, also known as the unofficial capital of the Athens Riviera.
Also in Greece, a woman was tragically while walking home from work in a horror flash flood as a state emergency is declared in Athens.
The 56-year-old was traversing raging flood waters in a suburb of the Greek capital when she was knocked off her feet by the torrential water stream.
She was swept along the road by surging floodwater and was eventually trapped under a parked car. Local media report that she couldn’t get her head above the water and drowned.
An eyewitness told local media: “It was after 9 o’clock. She was going to cross the street to go to her house. She was swept away by the stream. She got stuck under the car, and we couldn’t save her. Only her little feet were visible under the car.”
The National Observatory of Athens said the eight highest rainfalls across the country were recorded across Attica, the Eastern Peloponnese and Evia.
By 8pm local time, Papagou recorded 5.7 inches, Taktikoupoli Trizinia, 5.1 inches, and Vyronas, almost 5 inches. Residents have received emergency text alerts urging them to limit their movements.
On Thursday, the storm’s vortex is expected to shift eastward and the Aegean islands are now under threat.
Forecasts predict ‘storm surges’ and hurricane-force winds reaching between 55mph and 63mph. Authorities remain on high alert as the front moves across the archipelago.
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