As state officials began taking stock of damage to hundreds of hectares of farmland following three days of heavy rain last week, Athens’s chief prosecutor yesterday ordered an investigation into why anti-flood works in Marathon had the reverse effect of that intended.

Laconia in the Peloponnese was the area worst affected by last week’s downpours, with more than 1,000 hectares of cultivation devastated and dozens of homes flooded, officials said. Many country roads were also washed away, Laconia Prefect Constantinos Fourkas told Kathimerini.

Infrastructure was hit worst in Messinia, also in the Peloponnese, where some 2 million euros’ worth of damage was wrought upon roads, bridges and irrigation canals.

In Attica, more than 20 hectares of cultivated fields were damaged, most in the area of Marathon, after the Rapentosa Dam provoked floods rather than curbing them.

Agricultural Development and Food Minister Evangelos Bassiakos, who visited affected areas, pledged to speed up damage assessment so farmers can be compensated.