Freak storms lash Cyprus, but more water needed to end drought

NICOSIA, Cyprus (Reuters) -- Freak storms lashed Cyprus for a third successive day on Wednesday, bringing badly needed rain but causing havoc with flooded roads and homes.

The normally sunny island has been drenched by heavy rain since Monday, ending one of the driest Novembers on record.

RESOURCES Current weather forecast for Nicosia, Cyprus

Some 1.08 million cubic meters of water had flowed into reservoirs by Wednesday morning from 94 millimeters of rainfall over the past three days, the meteorological office said.

But officials were reluctant to herald the rainfall as the end of a bitter five-year drought that has sapped reservoir and underground water supplies to dangerously low levels.

"The situation as regards reservoirs has not changed drastically because we had a long drought which led to a situation where they are only 6.7 percent full," Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous told journalists.

"We have still got a long way to go until we can describe our water reserves as satisfactory," he added.

Storms had briefly caused flooding in the western tourist resort of Paphos earlier in the week, while gale force winds ripped roofs off buildings in farming communities in the Larnaca district and close to the capital of Nicosia.

The east Mediterranean island has suffered long dry spells since 1996, prompting authorities to turn to water desalination from the sea.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

See related sites about Middle East

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.