More than 2,000 people have been evacuated from the Greek island of Evia (Aegean Sea), a popular resort and the second-largest island after Crete, where firefighters spent several days trying to contain a devastating fire. Wildfires continue to rage in Greece, a wave that this summer swept across southern Europe and reached enormous proportions in Yakutia, in eastern Russia, reports the BBC.
Tourists and residents of the island of Evia, northeast of the capital Athens, were transported by ferry to the mainland over the weekend, as the coast was engulfed in flames. Houses on the island have burned, and power lines have been damaged.
Across Greece, several dozen wildfires are currently burning, but the most powerful of them has been on Evia.
Hundreds of firefighters, military personnel, as well as 17 aircraft and helicopters took part in the firefighting operation.
“We now have two fronts of fire, one in the north, the other in the south [of the country],” said Greece’s Deputy Minister for Civil Protection, Nikos Hardalias.
He added that in Athens, where lives were also endangered in recent days, the situation has improved, but there is concern that the fire may reignite due to strengthening dry winds.
The natural disaster in Greece was the result of temperatures above 40 degrees and lasted more than a week. In some parts of the country, the temperature reached 47 degrees. The temperature is now below 40, but such an irregular period of high temperatures has not been observed in the country for about 30 years.
In recent days, fires in Greece have covered 56,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
Such natural disasters are becoming more likely and more devastating due to human-induced global climate change.
This summer, wildfires are raging in Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Turkey, as well as in the US state of California.
