The road linking Polis Chrysochous and Latchi was closed on Sunday as heavy rainfall brought about by Storm Byron caused floods in the town and the region.
With heavy rainfall continuing, the police called on motorists to be “particularly careful”, with the road linking Polis Chrysochous and the villages of Argaka and Ayia Marina also said to have become “dangerous”.
The police said motorists should be “particularly careful”, “drive at low speeds”, and “keep a safe distance from vehicles in front”.
Meanwhile, Polis Chrysochous mayor Yiotis Papachristofi described the situation in the town as “unprecedented”, and said residents should “immediately limit unnecessary travel” on account of the weather.
He added that “several” landslides have occurred in the region, and that teams from the municipality have been mobilised to deal with the fall out.
In addition, he said, “several buildings and basements” in the town have been flooded.
Fire brigade spokesman Andreas Kettis said the fire brigade is recalling personnel to deal with the situation in Polis Chrysochous, and that municipal teams in the area have been clearing roads and opening storm drains.
He also said that a flood response team has been deployed to Polis Chrysochous from the Paphos district village of Stroumbi, and that four crews from the fire brigade are now working in the area.
Earlier, met office senior officer Panayiotis Georgiou had said rain will continue to fall in Cyprus until Thursday, with the eye of Storm Byron is currently located west of the island and moving slowly eastwards.
For this reason, he said, rain and storms will continue until Thursday, with the storm expected to have passed by Friday.
Landslides had occurred in the mountains above Limassol earlier on Sunday, with the police having said on Sunday morning that “landslides of rocks and lumps of soil” have occurred on roads in the region, with traffic “affected in some cases”.
Meanwhile, the Limassol municipality announced on Sunday morning that it had cancelled all Christmas-related events for a second successive day.
The storms began in earnest on Friday night, with heavy rainfall and strong winds hitting swathes of the island both on Friday and Saturday.
Tornadoes were reported in both the Paphos and Kyrenia districts on Friday night, with uprooted trees falling on properties near the Vrasida folk art museum in the Paphos district village of Tala and the village’s mukhtar Ioannis Konnikos saying electricity cables nearby had caught fire after being struck by a fallen tree.
He said that the electricity authority was immediately notified and that power was restored to the affected areas after a two-hour power cut.
In Kyrenia, meanwhile, workers at the Teknecik power station reported “significant damage” to the power station’s entrance and an administrative building as a result of a tornado.
Turkish Cypriot electricity workers’ trade union El-Sen said its workers were “working tirelessly and diligently to repair the damage and restore normal operations as quickly as possible”.
