IRAKLIO – The woman that had been missing after she was swept away by floodwater in the region of Iraklio, Crete was found dead in the sea by divers on Sunday, as a government task force was visiting the area to inspect the damage caused by flash floods on Saturday.

The task force was led by Alternate Interior Minister Stelios Petsas and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Christos Triantopoulos, who is responsible for State Support and Recovery from Natural Disasters, with the participation of the General Secretary for Civil Protection Vasilis Papageorgiou, General Secretary for Rural Development and Foods Christiana Kalogirou, General Secretary for Spatial Planning and Urban Environment Efthymios Bakoyannis and Infrastructure General Secretary Maria-Elli Gerardi.

The government officials inspected the villages of Agia Pelagia, Lygaria and Paleokastro and will attend a meeting at the Malevizi Municipality headquarters later on Sunday. Their next stop will be in Sitia, where there have also been problems due to Saturday’s bad weather, and announce measures to support households and restore flood damage.

Rain is forecast to continue falling on Crete on Sunday but with reduced intensity. In the 24-hour period before 9:00 on Sunday there were 33 mm of rain in Xyloskalo, Samaria, 29 mm in Neapoli, Lasithi, 27 mm in Sebrona, Chania and 23mm in Spili, Rethymno and Potamoi, Lasithi, according to measurements recorded by the National Observatory of Athens meteo.gr weather service.

Heavy rain also fell on the Dodecanese islands in the early morning hours of Sunday but without causing particular problems, though local authorities and volunteers have been on standby since Saturday, when a weather warning was sent via the 112 number to mobile phones in the region.