The rains in Cyprus are special. You can almost count the days it rains on your fingers, but you usually remember them.
Because they are torrential. The sky opens, and the water falls on the earth. And the streets become rivers in a few minutes, rivers that find their way to the sea by themselves, and here they destroy what they find in their way. Mostly the beaches. Sometimes even the roads. They tear up the asphalt, leaving holes and disaster behind.
And I’m not talking from hearsay or pictures. I saw with my own eyes how heavy rain destroyed the roads on December 4, 2018. And some beaches are absolutely “remodeled” every winter. They do not escape without small “canyons” of sand that must be covered until April when the tourists begin to appear.
The flood from 2023
This winter’s rain was on a Saturday morning, January 14. The alarm was sounded for the east coast of the island and the recommendation was to stay indoors. The streets in the area became rivers and traps for the small cars whose drivers ventured out and thought they would be able to pass. Firefighters pulled them out of the water.
And all the water gathered in Pernera, Protaras, Cape Greco and Ayia Napa.
If you’re wondering why the sewers didn’t cope… I’m telling you that with this kind of rain, I don’t really know what kind of pipes and what kind of system should be in place so that we don’t have floods.
The only place where I had access to see what happens even on a rainy day was in the Ayia Triada area, where there is a beach and port. It wasn’t until the next day that we arrived in Protaras and Ayia Napa.
As usual, the big beach of Protaras was destroyed, but it seems something more than usual. The famous Fig Tree Bay seems to have gotten off a little easier.
And to give you an idea of how it was, first you have Nikolas Petrou‘s images (which you can find on Instagram and Facebook), then the images I took two days in a row.
And finally, bonus, the streets broken by rain on December 4, 2018.
Ayia Triada on January 14 th
Protaras, January 15th
December 2018, Pernera and Protaras
