New evacuations ordered in Greece as high winds and heat fuel wildfires
CTV
A weeklong wildfire on the Greek island of Rhodes tore past defences Monday, forcing more evacuations, as three major fires raged elsewhere in the country fuelled by strong winds and successive heat waves.
A weeklong wildfire on the Greek island of Rhodes tore past defences Monday, forcing more evacuations, as three major fires raged elsewhere in the country fuelled by strong winds and successive heat waves.
The latest evacuations were ordered in south Rhodes after 19,000 people, mostly tourists, were moved in buses and boats over the weekend out of the path of the fire that reached several coastal areas from nearby mountains.
"We are at war --- completely focused on the fires," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during a debate in parliament. "Over the coming days and weeks, we must remain on constant alert."
Help continued to arrive from the European Union and elsewhere, with Turkish firefighting planes joining the effort in Rhodes, where eight water-dropping planes and 10 helicopters buzzed over flames up to five meters (16 feet) tall despite low visibility.
"The risk of fire will be extreme in several areas of Greece today," Fire Service spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said a day after temperatures on the southern Greek mainland soared as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
Overnight, evacuations were also ordered on the western island of Corfu, where more than 2,000 people including tourists were moved to safety, on the island of Evia and in a mountainous area in the southern Peloponnese region.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen contacted Prime Minister Mitsotakis late Sunday to offer additional assistance.
