Cyprus Mail - article by Elias Hazou 30 November 2018
Strong winds uprooted trees, causing power cuts in various areas in Paphos on Thursday evening, as a rainstorm swept through the district.
On the old Paphos to Limassol road, at least three trees were uprooted, one of which slammed into a vehicle. The driver was unharmed.
The trees also fell on power cables, leading to outages. In some locations power cuts were caused by lightning strikes.
The areas left without electricity were Emba, Coral Bay, Kissonerga, Tala, Chloraka, Ayios Neofytos, Kouklia and Diorizos Valley.
In the village of Stavrokonou, winds tore off the tin roof of a house. No one was hurt.
At Paphos airport, takeoff for a British Airways flight was delayed due to the heavy rain.
Police were advising motorists to be careful if driving on the Paphos to Limassol highway due to slippery conditions and low visibility. In particular, the stretch of road from the Konia junction up to Aphrodite’s Rock.
Heavy rain also fell in parts of the Nicosia district, with the fire department going on alert.
A low-pressure system, dubbed ‘Storm Penelope’, is making its way through the region. It is expected to subside by Saturday morning.
For Friday, the Met forecasts local showers and isolated storms, possibly with hail. Temperatures will hover around 20 degrees Centigrade inland and at the coast, 11 degrees on the mountains.
Last week heavy rains had caused traffic problems on the Nicosia-Limassol motorway, as well as in the Larnaca region.
The coastal road from Kiti to Zygi had been closed to traffic due to soil, sludge and objects on the road.
The fire service had to rescue people from flooded cars on four occasions in addition to responding to calls about flooded properties.
Despite the flash floods, rainfall so far this is well below the November average.
