Greece faces increasingly intense heat waves

2023-07-20 19:20:01

Forest is devastated by fires near the village of Agios Sotira, west of Athens, on July 20. FEDJA GRULOVIC / REUTERS

Temperatures could reach 45°C by Sunday as new fires are underway.

Athens

« Are we doomed to live the same drama every year ? » The question, raised by the newspaper Ta Nea, Greece’s leading daily, sums up the country’s disarray after five days of fighting fires west of Athens and on the island of Rhodes. It must be said that the images are repeated every summer: dozens of hectares ravaged by flames, violent winds which fuel each outbreak of fire, firefighters quickly overwhelmed and deafening messages, sent by the authorities on all cell phones in the threatened regions, summoning to evacuate the premises as soon as possible.

Since Monday, more than 130 fire starts have been recorded. One near Loutraki, 84 km from the capital, and another on the road to Corinth could only be partially controlled thanks to the intervention of French and Italian planes and 200 Romanian, Polish and Israeli firefighters. The situation seems to be improving west of Athens, but a fire is still…

This article is for subscribers only. You have 80% left to discover.

Want to read more?

Unlock all items immediately.

Already subscribed? Login