Μετά την καταστροφή έγινε διακοπή ρεύματος.

Μετά means after.

In this sentence, μετά is followed by a noun phrase meaning the disaster / the destruction:

• μετά = after
• την καταστροφή = the disaster / the destruction

So Μετά την καταστροφή means after the disaster.

This is a very common way to begin a sentence with a time expression in Greek.

Because μετά here takes the accusative case.

The basic form of the noun is:

• η καταστροφή = the disaster / destruction

But after μετά in modern Greek, you use the accusative:

• μετά την καταστροφή

So:

• η = nominative feminine singular article
• την = accusative feminine singular article

And the noun also appears in its accusative singular form:

• καταστροφή

For this noun, nominative and accusative look the same, so the article is the clearest sign of the case change.

Έγινε is the aorist form of γίνομαι.

The verb γίνομαι can mean things like:

• become
• happen
• take place
• occur

In this sentence, έγινε means something like:

• happened
• occurred
• took place

So έγινε διακοπή ρεύματος is literally something like a power outage occurred.

This is very natural Greek.

Because ήταν means was, and that would not sound natural for expressing an event starting or taking place.

Greek often uses γίνομαι to talk about events that happen:

• έγινε ατύχημα = an accident happened
• έγινε έκρηξη = an explosion happened
• έγινε διακοπή ρεύματος = there was a power outage / a power outage occurred

So έγινε focuses on the event happening, not on simply being.

Because Greek often omits the indefinite article in expressions like this.

English says:

• a power outage occurred
• there was a power outage

Greek often just says:

• έγινε διακοπή ρεύματος

without needing a word corresponding to a.

You could think of it as an indefinite event being introduced naturally, without an article. This is very common in Greek, especially after verbs like έγινε.

Because ρεύματος is the genitive singular of ρεύμα.

• το ρεύμα = the electricity / power / current
• του ρεύματος = of the electricity / of the power

So:

• διακοπή ρεύματος literally means interruption of electricity
• more naturally: power outage or power cut

This noun + genitive structure is very common in Greek.

Other similar examples:

• στάση λεωφορείου = bus stop
• πόρτα σπιτιού = house door / door of the house
• κέντρο πόλης = city center

The grammatical subject is διακοπή ρεύματος.

Even though it comes after the verb, it is still the subject:

• έγινε = occurred / happened
• διακοπή ρεύματος = power outage

Greek often allows the verb to come before the subject, especially when introducing an event.

So the structure is:

• Μετά την καταστροφή = time phrase
• έγινε = verb
• διακοπή ρεύματος = subject

Greek word order is fairly flexible.

The sentence as given is very natural:

• Μετά την καταστροφή έγινε διακοπή ρεύματος.

But other orders are possible depending on emphasis, for example:

• Έγινε διακοπή ρεύματος μετά την καταστροφή.
• Διακοπή ρεύματος έγινε μετά την καταστροφή.

The original version sounds neutral and natural, especially if you want to set the time frame first: after the disaster.

It can mean either, depending on context.

καταστροφή can refer to:

• destruction
• disaster
• catastrophe

So in a sentence like this, the exact English choice depends on the broader context. If the meaning has already been given to the learner, then the important thing to notice is that Greek uses one word here where English might choose different options depending on the situation.

A rough pronunciation is:

Me-TA tin ka-ta-stro-FI E-yi-ne di-a-ko-PI REV-ma-tos

A few helpful points:

• Μετά has stress on the second syllable: μεΤΑ
• καταστροφή has stress on the last syllable: katastroFI
• έγινε is pronounced roughly E-yi-ne
• ρεύματος has stress on ρεύ: REV-ma-tos

If you want a more connected natural rhythm, it sounds something like:

MeTA tin katastroFI Eyine diakoPI REVmatos