Nicosia taken up by storm

The capital of Cyprus was soaked in a short-lived yet powerful storm Sunday afternoon, with officials responding to multiple calls for floods and fallen trees, and an advocacy group calling for better preparedness next time.

Suburban communities west of Nicosia, including Kokkinotrimithia and Lakatamia, were caught in the eye of the storm which then moved northwesterly towards the built-up areas of Engomi and Strovolos while also reaching Nicosia old city as well as Kaimakli and Pallouriotissa boroughs in the east.

Hail was reported in several areas after the powerful thunderstorm roared through the inner city around 2pm, with fire fighters and officials from the Cyprus Electricity Authority (EAC) receiving multiple service calls in the aftermath.

In one instance, a tree near the Archaeological Museum on Omirou Avenue had fallen onto power lines, cutting a utility pole in two and posing serious danger. Members of the REACTION social advocacy group stood guard until authorities arrived on the scene. Knews understands no electricity outages or injuries were reported in the wider area.

Tow trucks got busy in the aftermath as several drivers had their vehicles stuck in flooded areas, while other cars were damaged from fallen trees and city crews had to remove three large trees. The rest of the calls had to do with clearing rainwater drainage systems, according to Kathimerini Cyprus.

REACTION wrote on social media that the city was “unprepared” to deal with the storm but thanked publicly the Fire Service department, the Police, and EAC for their timely response.

“The storm lasted only a few minutes but the time was enough to show we were unprepared… blocked drains, closed-up sewer gutters… lots of mess around the city of Nicosia,” the group wrote on Facebook.