115F As Greece Hits Record High Temps; 1,000s Flee Athens Fires, Extreme Fire Danger Crete & Rhodes

[hatrack]

Thousands of residents fled their homes in Athens as forest fires swept the north of the city, burning houses, severing electricity supplies and sending plumes of thick smoke into the air as Greece grappled with its worst heat wave in 30 years.

Emergency services worked to contain the flames, in part by sending planes to drop water from the sky. Greek officials confirmed Wednesday that at least 77 people had been hospitalized as a result of the huge blaze in the Varympompi area of Athens.

Temperatures soared to 115.3 degrees Fahrenheit earlier this week as Greece recorded its hottest day on record. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said this week that the country was “facing the worst heat wave since 1987,” during which more than 1,000 people died.

EDIT

On Wednesday, Greek emergency services took to Twitter to warn residents and tourists of “extreme fire danger” in Rhodes and Crete, and advised people that conditions were “very difficult.” “Whenever I go outside on the balcony it ‘rains’ ashes from the sky,” tweeted Demetrios Ioannou, a journalist living around 20 miles from the fires raging in Athens.

EDIT

Link to tweet

EDIT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/04/athens-wildfires-greece-heatwave/

[Deep State Witch]

1. My heart is breaking

Greece was so beautiful when I was there 6 years ago.