Cyprus Mail 19 August 2019 - article by Peter Michael
Thunderstorms, lightning and heavy rain caused disturbances across the island with power cuts, flash flooding, and a fire on Monday, authorities announced.
Power cuts were reported in the Meniko, Akaki, Arediou, Orounta, Kokkinotrimithia, and Paliometocho. Parts of Nicosia were also affected by the rain.
The problem was corrected at approximately 5:40pm, the electricity authority (EAC) said. The EAC spokesperson, Christina Papadopoulou said that the EAC underground cable was struck by lightning, which caused the power outages.
The fire service said they were called to five various incidents around Nicosia. They drained two basements in Kokkinotrimithia, the square in the village of Paliometocho, and towed two cars from flooded roads on Makarios Avenue in Paliometocho.
A lightning strike also caused a fire in the Paphos forest at around 4:45pm. An aircraft belonging to the fire service was sent to put out the blaze along with vehicles of the forestry department. The fire was put under control at approximately 5:50pm.
The fire burnt approximately 20 square metres of wild shrubs.
At night, it cooled down to 20C in the Nicosia region and 22C near the sea. In and around Troodos temperatures dropped to 14C.
Over the next three days the weather will be partly cloudy and temperatures are set to rise. By Thursday they will be above average.
