Rain offers hope to Greek firefighters | Abroad

At the moment, at high temperature, the wind is still quite strong. This can cause new fires. Fires also continue to rage, for example in bushes and mosses. Although firefighters say the danger is not yet over, mayors of the Peloponnese Peninsula say the situation has improved.

Weather conditions have not improved everywhere. Lightning caused fires in some places, notably west of Athens. However, this fire was quickly extinguished or brought under control.

Forest fires in Greece have so far destroyed at least 90,000 hectares of land. The geological institute at the University of Athens has calculated the damage and says there will be a lot more scorched earth.

“The dates are constantly changing, as the fire is not yet extinguished,” geology professor Niki Evelpidou told the Greek newspaper Kathimerini. And even if the fires are extinguished, the danger has not passed, according to Evelpidou. The soil is extremely vulnerable to flooding and landslides after forest fires. “This has happened a lot in recent years after a lot of rain.”

The island of Evia has been the hardest hit, says the professor. At least 50,000 hectares of forest have been burnt there. The fire was not extinguished there once and continues to spread. More than 10,000 hectares of land on the Peloponnesian Peninsula has already been reduced to ashes.

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