violent fires wreak havoc on tourism and nature

2023-07-23 17:27:00

The holidays turn into a nightmare. Thousands of people on the island Greece, including tourists, were forced to shelter in covered schools and stadiums on Sunday following being evacuated from coastal villages and resorts due to forest fires that have ravaged the area for six days.

Thousands more spent the night away and tour operators Jet2, TUI and Correndon canceled flights from the island, located in southeastern Greece, a popular destination for holidaymakers for its beaches and historic sites. Ryanair RYA.I said on Sunday that its flights to and from Rhodes were not affected by the incident.

19,000 displaced people

Greek relief service spokesman Ioannis Artopoios said 19,000 people had been displaced from their homes and hotels, calling the operation the largest ever carried out by Greece.

Among the tourists present in Rhodes are French, Germans, Dutch and British, the island can accommodate according to a hotelier up to 150,000 visitors at the same time in high season.

Amy Leyden, a British tourist, has described a “terrifying” experience, saying she was moved from two hotels with her 11-year-old daughter, before being taken to safety at a school. “We were walking down the road at 2am and the fire was catching up with us,” she said on Sky News. “I didn’t think we were going to get there,” she added.

scenes of chaos

Coastguard vessels and dozens of private boats evacuated more than 3,000 tourists from beaches on Saturday due to nearly a week of ongoing wildfires, fanned by strong winds, along the southeastern part of the island, Greece’s third most populous with around 125,000 people.

“It was literally like the end of the world,” another British tourist, Ian Murison, told Sky from a rescue boat carrying him and others to the island’s main northern town.

Ian Murison spoke of scenes of chaos, with crowds of tourists on a beach rushing to board coaches. Many tourists left their hotels when the flames reached the coastal villages of Kiotari, Gennadi, Pefki, Lindos, Lardos and Kalathos.

“We have between 4,000 and 5,000 people housed in different structures,” Thanasis Virinis, deputy mayor of Rhodes, told Mega TV channel on Sunday, while appealing for donations of basic necessities like mattresses and sheets. A government official told Archyde.com that 19,000 people had been displaced from their homes and hotels. The Ministry of Civil Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Volunteers helped put out a blaze that tore through a hillside and destroyed buildings near Lindos, one of the most visited sites on the island, famous for its acropolis perched on a massive rock inside medieval walls.

Damage to health

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) expects an intensification of the heat wave in the northern hemisphere over the next few days and has warned of health risks.

In Europe, more than 61,000 people are estimated to have died in the 2022 heat waves. Nighttime minimum temperatures are also expected to reach new highs, according to the WMO, leading to the risk of increased cases of heart attacks and deaths.

(With AFP and Archyde.com)