Strong winds continue to fan wildfires on the Greek resort island of Rhodes. Six villages north and west of the ancient site of Lindos are under threat.
Firefighting planes and helicopters were used again at first light to get the flames under control, according to the fire brigade. “The extinguishing work is very difficult because of the turning winds,” said a spokesman for the fire brigade on state radio. Fires are also raging around the port city of Karystos on the island of Euboea in northeast Athens, threatening villages.
Meanwhile, the weather office warned of extremely high temperatures, which are expected to prevail in almost all parts of the country today and especially tomorrow. “The thermometers could show 46 degrees and more, especially tomorrow, Wednesday,” said a meteorologist on the Skai news channel. A drop to around 35 degrees is expected on Thursday.
Before the cooldown comes, there will be one final heat climax. A wind coming from the direction of Libya is expected for today and tomorrow, especially in the west of the country: It is a hot, dry fall wind – the notorious “Livas”. Meteorologists described the phenomenon as extremely dry and as hot as air from a hair dryer.
Elsewhere in Greece there are fires in the Peloponnese peninsula near the port town of Egion and on the island of Corfu. However, these fires have been contained and do not threaten any inhabited areas, according to the fire department.
Help from other EU countries
Although more than 100 firefighting planes and helicopters have been in action for days, the fires continue to rage. Firefighters from several EU countries are helping the Greeks. Turkey and Egypt have also sent firefighting planes and helicopters.
The situation in the southeast of the holiday island of Rhodes is bad. Strong winds blow there and fan the flames again and again. Several houses on the island’s mountains burned down yesterday, state television reported. Reporters at the scene feared these fires could once again threaten hotel properties. Thousands of tourists and residents were recently brought to safety there.
Big damage south of Lindos
The damage on Rhodes is already great. About ten percent of the island’s hotels were damaged over the weekend, according to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Most of the damaged tourist facilities are located south of the Lindos region.
Other countries in the Mediterranean region are also struggling with heat and drought. At the beginning of the week, there was a high risk of forest fires in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. In Malta, the high temperatures also led to power outages, some of which lasted up to 36 hours. State-owned power company Enemalta blamed the high temperatures for damaging many of its underground cables.
Worry about duds in former war zones
The Red Cross warned of the danger of old ammunition explosions in light of the heat wave and forest fires. In former war zones, the detonators of duds could be set off by very high temperatures, said Erik Tollefsen, weapons expert at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva.
The same applies to ammunition that has not been cleared at military firing ranges and abandoned ammunition depots, which are often set up in remote areas, Tollefsen told the German Press Agency.
