“Rhodes is on fire,” is how reporters from Greek public broadcaster ERT describe the dramatic situation on the popular holiday island. Forest fires have been raging in the south of the island for five days, burning down pine forests. At first it seemed as if the fire brigade had the fire under control. But the wind turned and drove the fire towards the tourist strongholds. The fires are now several kilometers long and have gotten out of control. Two villages and several hotels had to be evacuated on Saturday. State radio reported in the evening that 8,000 people had left the south of the island by land. The number could be even higher, it said.
A spokesman for the fire brigade had previously announced that 2,000 people had been brought to safety by boat from the coasts south of Lindos because escape routes were cut off. Most of them were tourists. Fishermen and private individuals also took people with their boats. The tourists should be accommodated in hotels and in a basketball hall.
Tourists on Rhodes are taken to safety on all sorts of vehicles.
(Photo: Eurokinissi /afp)
The forest fires that have been raging on Rhodes for three days got out of control on Saturday afternoon. Force six winds blow in the Rhodes region. In the afternoon, the Coast Guard spoke of 1,500 people who had been brought to safety from the beaches.
Fire brigade surprised by twisting winds
“The smoke is so strong that you can hardly breathe,” Konstantinos Traraslias, deputy mayor of Rhodes, told Athens news channel Skai. The people would be taken to the small town of Gennadi, from where they would be accommodated in hotels. As the government in Athens announced in the evening, eight people with respiratory problems were taken to the hospital.
Due to the change in wind direction, the fire turned towards the coast and surprised the fire brigade, a spokesman said. “There have never been so many villages affected,” said a German who has lived on the island for years, the German Press Agency. “Otherwise it burns towards the west coast. But this time the fire came over the mountain to the southeast.” In her village of Lachania, everyone is on their feet and waiting for their village to be evacuated. The power went out hours ago, and she’s sitting in the dark. “I packed the most important things in the car, water, food for my dog. But I’m waiting for the authorities’ instructions, it doesn’t help to drive somewhere headless.”
Tourists and locals have to flee.
(Photo: Lefteris Damianidis/dpa)
Meanwhile, video footage shared on Greek media and social media showed long lines of people leaving their vacation spots on foot – some panicking, others staying calm, some with their suitcases, others with nothing but their clothes. It was unclear on Saturday evening where they should be accommodated so quickly. The state broadcaster ERT reported that a ferry was on the way, on which a number of people could initially find shelter. At this time of the year, in the middle of the main tourist season, there should hardly be any free accommodation on the island itself.
In the course of global warming, the risk of forest fires is increasing in many regions, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has established. A warmer climate can contribute to more water falling from the sky, also more often in the form of heavy rain. However, the periods without precipitation are becoming longer in some cases. And especially in areas that are already dry, the danger of periods of drought increases. Forest fires can spread faster in extremely dry vegetation.
“It is the most difficult fire we have to deal with,” said a spokesman for the Greek fire brigade on Saturday. Hundreds of Rhodes residents volunteered to help the tourists, state television reported. The German Travel Association informed the German Press Agency on Saturday evening: “A total of around 20,000 German vacationers from tour operators are currently staying on the island, and only a small number are affected by the evacuations.” Collection points in the north of the island are planned for the evacuees. According to the DRV, tour operators want to contact their customers who are planning a trip to Rhodes in the next few days. You would then be informed whether the trip could take place.
Heat wave could be the longest ever measured
It hasn’t rained on Rhodes for a long time, it is very dry – and there is no end in sight to the heat wave. As the Meteorological Office announced on Saturday, values of up to 45 degrees Celsius are expected for Sunday in the south of the country. In the central Greek city of Larisa, the thermometer showed 44 degrees early Saturday afternoon.
Locals are trying to get the fire under control near Lindos.
(Photo: Lefteris Damianidis/Reuters)
In northern Greece, too, there were values around 40 degrees in many places on Saturday. Even most of the Aegean islands have temperatures above 38 degrees. One of the leading Greek meteorologists, Konstantinos Lagouvardos, estimated on state television that this heat wave could be the longest since measurements have been taken in Greece “if things continue like this”.
The fire brigade again warned of the great danger of forest fires. “We are facing even more difficult times,” said a spokesman on state television on Saturday. The fires in the Athens area and on the Peloponnese peninsula have been brought under control. But they flare up again and again because everything has dried up, they said.
Italy expects temperatures just below 50 degrees
The Italian meteorologists are also expecting a new heat wave at the beginning of next week. Then peak temperatures of 47 to 48 degrees are possible between Sardinia and Sicily, the weather service Ilmeteo.it wrote on Saturday. The weather service of the Italian Air Force registered 40 degrees from Palermo, the capital of Sicily, early Saturday afternoon. In Rome it was 37 degrees. 41.8 degrees had already been measured there last Tuesday.
Meanwhile, severe storms in northern and central Italy caused considerable damage. The area around Bologna and the Adriatic coast were among those affected. The weather service for the Emilia-Romagna region, whose capital is Bologna, also reported severe thunderstorms from the provinces of Reggio Emilia, Ferrara and Ravenna. Photos showed downed power poles, collapsed houses, scattered roof tiles and wrecked cars. One video showed bathers fleeing the beach en masse in Lido di Classe near Ravenna.