Hundreds of people may be trapped by water in flood-hit areas of Greece

Greek rescue services have been working tirelessly for days to rescue trapped people. The Greek Ministry responsible for climate crisis and civil protection has put seven helicopters into service to rescue people from the most difficult-to-reach places.

Hundreds of people across the country are waiting to be rescued. Some people have been staying in their houses flooded with food and thirst for the third day.

However, the lack of drinking water and electricity is not only a problem for those trapped. Only in Volos in central Greece, two hundred thousand people were left without water. People stand in long lines in front of trucks carrying relief supplies.

“My house is full of mud, but the same can be said for all the other houses on my street. At my neighbor’s house, all the furniture was broken and the refrigerators were floating in the water. The shops are in an unsalvageable state, and it is a big problem that there has been no water or electricity in the city for days.” said a man.

The Greek government is trying to help those in trouble in cooperation with volunteers.

“Many people have been without electricity here for two or three days. We are trying to help them so that they can at least charge their phones” said a Spanish volunteer.

According to the Greek Meteorological Service, there was as much rain in one day as London averaged in a whole year. According to the Greek Prime Minister, it is simply impossible to prepare for a disaster of this magnitude.

“Unfortunately, no matter how many preparations we make, we cannot control the weather processes. With such an unprecedented amount of rain, flooding is inevitable. I really hope our meteorologists are wrong, but it looks like there are still some tough days ahead of us.” said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

It is already certain that 2023 will be remembered as the year of natural disasters in Greece. Weeks ago, the most destructive fire in the history of the modern Greek state raged, and within a few hours, the central and northern areas of the country were in some places under two to three meters of water. The damage is already estimated at several billion euros. According to experts, the country’s most important agricultural areas could become unproductive for years due to the thick layer of mud.

Featured image: Cars are swept away by the flood on a street in the northeastern Greek city of Volos on September 5, 2023, after Cyclone Daniel hit the area with a huge amount of precipitation (Photo: MTI/EPA/ANA-MPA/Hacipolitisz Nikolaosz)