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Last of major wildfires in Greece under control September 2, 2007

The last spate of major wildfires in southern Greece, mostly centered in Arcadia prefecture of the Peloponnese, appeared to be under control or completely extinguished by Sunday morning, the fire brigade announced.

Fire brigade officials announced that no less than 36 separate wildfires were reported in the previous 24 hours, with only one blaze, on the Ionian island of Cephallonia, qualifying as a concern.

The devastating wildfire fronts near the Karytaina, Mt. Parnonas and the Megalopoli districts of the southern Peloponnese were out, officials said on Sunday.

The official death toll rose to at least 64 on Sunday following the death of an Evia man, who had been hospitalized since last week with burns from a wildfire in the region.

Meteorologists were hopeful that rain showers in northern Greece would move south overnight, ending any chance of charred areas reigniting.

Wildfires broke out in Greece on August 24, and have killed 64 people and leaving hundreds homeless since.

Greeks say Thank you to the world September 2, 2007

Greece and the Greek people are grateful to all countries and nations who expressed their sympathy during our national tragedy and the loss of at least 64 compatriots during the wildfires spread all over our country, especially in the Peloponesse and Evia.

Greece and the Greek people are grateful to all who rushed in contributing into the Fire Victims Relief Funds.

Greece and the Greek people are grateful to all the countries which sent firemen, volunteers, fire-fighting airplanes and helicopters as well as fire trucks and other aid, helping us to battle with the wildfires.

A Thank You, coming from the deep of our heart, is the least we can say in appreciation.

I would personally like to say Thank You to all of you who contacted me directly, by email or other means. Your words and expressed feelings of sympathy to me and my country are cherised and I was deeply touched and moved. Thank you for showing me that humanity can still be found on this world.

May I also remind you to read this post and act > Help Greece, please help the fire victims

An unprecedented sense of deprivation September 2, 2007

Many of us feel an overwhelming sense of deprivation when we suddenly lose our mobile telephone, when our television breaks down, when our electricity supply is interrupted for a few hours, or when the registration plates of our car are stolen. And this is not even in extreme situations, as when someone lives in the middle of nowhere or is sick at home.

US scientists recently described the reactions of an entire family who, for the purposes of a special study, were deprived of their television for a few days. They observed that the family members hardly knew what to do with themselves and “were staggering around like headless chickens.”

  This aside, it is extremely difficult for us to imagine the feelings of those who lost their livestock, their trees and their homes in the recent fires that devastated the Peloponnese and Evia.

Earlier this week, state channel Net aired the views of a few residents of Fanari village, in Ileia, whose homes were ravaged by fire. And they described their plight, without complaints and self-pity, in simple, stark terms.

“Some 600 bales of hay were burnt, the animals survived, the stables were destroyed. But the female animals are nearly ready to give birth, I don’t know what to do,” one resident said.

Another remarked that the 3,000-euro emergency payment being issued by the state is “only enough for cigarettes.” “I paid 4,500 euros just for hay to feed my animals, what about all the other expenses?”

“Will you stay in the village?” the reporter asked him. “We will, we will stay here and struggle with hunger, poverty and misery,” he said.

All the residents interviewed agreed that, however much compensation they receive, they will have to borrow money as the fires have razed the fruits of several years’ efforts. “We already owe ATEbank and we will be obliged to borrow more as we have years of lost labor to make up for, we’ll be hostages to the banks for a lifetime,” one resident said.

It is difficult to believe that such people have a party political agenda or are playing for the cameras.

Of course, the loss of human life is the heaviest and most irrevocable but the smaller wounds can also be devastating for those who have always lived off the fruits of the earth.

The situation we are now witnessing, the devastation of agricultural land, has not been seen for some 150 years. The future for the burnt regions is unclear.

“What will you do with the 3,000 euros?” the reporter asks one of the citizens standing in line outside a bank in Pirgos. “I will spend it on animal fodder,” he said. “We should get ourselves some new trousers too guys!” a kindly faced old man chimed in.

EU peers step into the breach September 2, 2007

Greece’s European Union peers have stepped into the lingering crisis, dispatching aid in the form of firefighting aircraft, in fact, water-dropping planes sent by various European countries are still dousing areas of the Peloponnese.

Meanwhile, relief aid is also forthcoming from the other EU member states to help reconstruct and regenerate the devastated regions.

The generous response from European governments is the latest vindication of the prudence of the late statesman Constantine Karamanlis who pushed Greece’s membership into what was then the European Economic Community, or EEC.

Greece’s euroskeptics would do well to think again: A disaster of such magnitude would certainly have had a devastating effect on the national economy were it not for the EU aid packages.