(Athens) More than 30,000 people had to flee the flames on the very touristic island of Rhodes, “the largest evacuation operation ever carried out in Greece”, crushed under a furnace favoring fires.
Since the beginning of summer, the heat has overwhelmed tens of millions of people around the world. July could turn out to be the hottest month on record on Earth, according to predictions from experts who point to the impact of global warming.
In Greece, where firefighters have recorded 46 new fires in 24 hours, the fire rages on Sunday for the sixth day in a row in the east of Rhodes, an island of 100,000 inhabitants very popular with British, German or French holidaymakers in particular, in the Dodecanese archipelago.
Rescuers had to carry out “the largest evacuation operation ever carried out” in the country on Saturday, which continued overnight from Sunday to Monday, police spokeswoman Konstantia Dimoglidou told AFP.
PHOTO ARGIRIS MANTIKOS, EUROKINISSI, REUTERS
Tourists were evacuated by coach on July 22.
Some 30,000 people left their homes, including hotels, including 19,000 as a preventive measure – 3,000 of them were evacuated by sea.
A total of 12 localities were evacuated, including Lindos, one of the island’s main tourist attractions with its hilltop Acropolis.
PHOTO ARGYRIS MANTIKOS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Evacuees took refuge in an arena on July 22.
During the night, the flames reached the village of Laerma, burning houses and a church, according to Greek media. Many hotels were also affected and the fire spread to the coastal villages of Kiotari and Gennadi Lardos.
Panagiotis Dimelis, a local elected official from the village of Archangelos, described on Skai TV “an unprecedented situation”.
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened a crisis unit in Athens to facilitate the repatriation of foreign tourists.
The world number one in tourism TUI and the British company JeT2 suspended their tourist flights to Rhodes on Sunday but will send their planes there empty to be able to evacuate the tourists present on the island.
Several days are still needed to contain the fire, according to the authorities, especially since the wind, which is fanning it, “should strengthen between midday and 5 p.m. (10 a.m. Eastern time)”, warned the firefighters.
Temperatures exceeding 44 ° C are expected this Sunday in Greece, which, according to the national meteorological observatory, is going through “probably” the longest heat wave in its history. All archaeological sites, such as the famous Acropolis of Athens, will remain closed during the hottest hours.
PHOTO YORGOS KARAHALIS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bathers in Athens, July 22
“We are probably going to experience a heat wave of 16 to 17 days, which has never happened before in our country,” said Kostas Lagouvardos, director of research at the observatory, on ERT on Saturday.
“The difficult times have not passed,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned on Friday, advocating “absolute vigilance”.
On the surface of the sea, the mercury was 2 to 3 ° C above normal, the meteorological services announced on Saturday.