Infernos exact heavy toll as fires continue
At least 1,300 homes are estimated to have been damaged, of which 300 were utterly destroyed, by the fire that raged over nine days in Greece and also scorched 84,500 hectares of land.
The government has promised that the procedures for the compensation of the victims will be swift, with the specific application platform on the web portal arogi.gov.gr, expected to open on August 18.
Meanwhile, fires continued to burn on Wednesday, with the most critical battle being fought on the front in Arcadia, southern Greece by strong ground and air forces with the help of foreign missions and residents who had remained in the area.
In comments to Kathimerini late Wednesday, the mayor of Gortynia, Efstathios Koulis, said the situation seemed to be more under control, while the water drops from the air continued until nightfall.
“This is a large area and the firefighting forces are facing fronts with long distances between them,” he stressed.
The fire brigade said that the forces deployed on Wednesday to fight the forest fires of Ancient Olympia in Ilia and Gortynia in Arcadia included more than 570 firefighters with 30 groups of residents and volunteers on the ground, 181 vehicles, and firefighting missions from France and Germany.
On the island of Evia on Wednesday, battle was waged against fires in the northern coastal zone from Agia Anna to Agriovotano by a total of more than 800 firefighters, according to an announcement by the fire department.
Locals in Evia were already focusing on the day after and the risk of floods.
“In the event of floods Istiaia and the coastal plain will be endangered… infrastructure projects must be undertaken immediately in the burned area,” said Ioannis Skiaditis, a resident of the village of Avgaria, in comments to Kathimerini.
