By Alexia Saoulli
IT MAY be too early to tell whether it’s going to be a white Christmas, but it’s quite clear that this is going to be another miserable weekend, according to senior meteorological officer, Loizos Stefanou.
The weather prognosis for the next few days is appalling, with heavy showers, hail and wind on the agenda.
” People around the island can expect more of the same, if not worse, weather over the weekend,”said Stefanou.
He was unable to say what parts of the island would be hit the hardest, but did mention the capital tended to be sheltered by the Troodos mountain range.
” Nicosia is shadowed by the mountains, which is why its residents don’t suffer the same degree of damage that residents in coastal or mountainous regions do.”
Paphos fire services have already been put on full alert for an increase in emergency calls.
Acting fire sergeant Andreas Savva told the Cyprus Mailyesterday that although no one has been injured in the past few stormy days, they had had to respond to 35 emergency calls in the past 36 hours.
” One family that had made its home in a basement, was completely flooded out and had to go and stay with relatives for a few days, until the furniture dries,”he said.
However, such cases are rare and no one has actually yet lost their home due to extensive flooding, he added.
Roads were closed off in Larnaca yesterday and Stratigos Timagia Avenue remained impassable. Two accidents were also reported in the area due to the dangerous road conditions.
However, in spite of the recent rain, dams across the island remain well below their capacity.
Fedros Roussis of the Water Development Department said storage in the dams until Thursday, was 9.6 per cent of capacity and there had been an inflow of 1 million cubic metres on that day.
” We are happy with the current inflow and if it continues to rain like this, we will be fine,”said Roussis.
During the first six days of December there has been an inflow of 10 million cubic metres.
” We are still unhappy with the quantity: 9.6 per cent of a 26.3 million cubic metre capacity means the dams are still empty,”said Roussis.
This time last year, the dams were 7.3 per cent full.
