20/09/20

[Maik]

Rochester couple trapped as Storm Ianos hits Kefalonia with hurricane force winds

A couple's dream holiday to celebrate their ruby wedding anniversary has turned into a nightmare.

Nicola and Kevin Gearey jetted out to the Greek island of Kefalonia on Wednesday, looking forward to a romantic break.

But they came down from their hotel room on Thursday morning to discover signs warning of seriously bad weather.

A rare Mediterranean storm, which is known as a 'medicane’, was headed their way and guests were being warned to stay indoors.

Winds of up to 70mph and heavy rain hit the island yesterday, flooding parts of the hotel and battering the area around the pool.

The hotel remains without electricity on Saturday morning.

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/ruby-wedding-couple-hit-by-greek-hurricane-234057/

[Jolly Roger]

Rochester couple trapped as Storm Ianos hits Kefalonia with hurricane force winds

A couple's dream holiday to celebrate their ruby wedding anniversary has turned into a nightmare.

Nicola and Kevin Gearey jetted out to the Greek island of Kefalonia on Wednesday, looking forward to a romantic break.

But they came down from their hotel room on Thursday morning to discover signs warning of seriously bad weather.

A rare Mediterranean storm, which is known as a 'medicane’, was headed their way and guests were being warned to stay indoors.

Winds of up to 70mph and heavy rain hit the island yesterday, flooding parts of the hotel and battering the area around the pool.

The hotel remains without electricity on Saturday morning.

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/ruby-wedding-couple-hit-by-greek-hurricane-234057/

Well, I do feel sorry for them, but many people have suffered far worse. Much of the island is still without electricity and water.

[BeeTee]

Rochester couple trapped as Storm Ianos hits Kefalonia with hurricane force winds

A couple's dream holiday to celebrate their ruby wedding anniversary has turned into a nightmare.

Nicola and Kevin Gearey jetted out to the Greek island of Kefalonia on Wednesday, looking forward to a romantic break.

But they came down from their hotel room on Thursday morning to discover signs warning of seriously bad weather.

A rare Mediterranean storm, which is known as a 'medicane’, was headed their way and guests were being warned to stay indoors.

Winds of up to 70mph and heavy rain hit the island yesterday, flooding parts of the hotel and battering the area around the pool.

The hotel remains without electricity on Saturday morning.

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/ruby-wedding-couple-hit-by-greek-hurricane-234057/

Well, I do feel sorry for them, but many people have suffered far worse. Much of the island is still without electricity and water.

Agree with you there Roger. There are plenty of towns and villages still affected. A company on the island called Kefalonia Wild Nature has recently taken supplies to Assos and here is what they say on their site...

Just returned from Assos to give supplies to the residents.
Our business along with Simotas Car Rental business bought food (bread, ham, cheese, croissants, juices, energy bars, wet wipes etc) and water.
These expenses were covered by us as individuals, as the need was urgent and we did not have time to raise funds.
Just enough for tonight and tomorrow.
We found people living in complete darkness, between ruins, in the mud and the rocks. Assos needs months to recover. The amount of mud and rocks there is huge. The coast road, the tavernas, the port and the beach simply don’t exist anymore.
The photos don’t make justice.
If you want to help in any way, contact us. There is need for headlamps, batteries, power banks (solar power banks would be great) and a power generator would be the most ideal for these people. Everybody’s phones will be dying of battery any minute now and they need to be in communication.
Probably we will help other villages too if needed.
Special thanks to all the people who offered their help (no matter if they had the chance to come with us), to the people who donated money and came to hand it to us, to Simotas Car Rental for the extra car and joining us, Alexandra from Alexandra Kefalonia Massage and of course the restaurants from Argostoli who cooked the meals and offered them for free - Palia Plaka, Premier and La Gondola. Also many thanks to Thanos, the manager of Kritikos super market for his help with the table water.
On the link below you can donate money in our paypal account.
https://www.paypal.me/kostasvitor

[TonyD]

Rochester couple trapped as Storm Ianos hits Kefalonia with hurricane force winds

"Trapped"?!

[Maik]

"Despite the weather, the Rochester residents are optimistic they can enjoy the rest of their break." Says it all. They had a minor inconvenience and plenty to talk about when they get home, residents have to clean up the mess and rebuild their island.

[Maik]

Woman falls from moving car on M25 while filming Snapchat video

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/woman-falls-moving-car-snapchat-video-m25-surrey-b499079.html

Unsurprisingly, the comments are unsympathetic.

[Maik]

Apparently there's talk on the island of 5,000 properties being significantly damaged by the medicane. No idea whether that's a realistic figure or one that someone's pulled from the wind.

[Maik]

This one's a reliable figure, from what I can check: forty three boats sank at various ports around Kefalonia, nine suffered material damage and another nine ran aground. Roger did well to protect his yacht.

[Maik]

Alpaca pitch invader disrupts Carlton Athletic football match

A football match was disrupted by an unusual pitch invader when an alpaca bounded on to the field.

Carlton Athletic's tie against Ilkley Town in West Yorkshire on Saturday was halted for 15 minutes when Oscar escaped from a nearby farm and joined the action.

Attempts were made to entice it off the pitch with food, before a farmer managed to shepherd it home.

After the bizarre delay, Ilkley went on to secure a 2-0 away win.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-54224681

[Jolly Roger]

This one's a reliable figure, from what I can check: forty three boats sank at various ports around Kefalonia, nine suffered material damage and another nine ran aground. Roger did well to protect his yacht.

Yes, I realize how much worse it could have been. Considering our harbour is unfinished and considered dangerous in bad conditions, there was relatively little damage. I believe this was due to a united effort by all the locals, who rallied round at a difficult time for all.
Forty three boats sunk? That really brings it home to me!