Larissa: Pinios threatens, the city is fortified (Video – Photos)

After Cyclone Daniel, the western districts of Larissa show images of widespread destruction of homes, infrastructure, materials and business goods. Areas, located on the banks of the Pinios, to the west of the city, have been submerged in water that reaches, depending on the height of the ground, from one to two and a half meters.

From the first exit of the Thessaloniki-Athens highway and around the perimeter in an area of ​​more than twenty kilometers, almost everything is submerged in water. Houses, up to the height of the first floor, cars, industrial premises, warehouses, agricultural machinery.

Local residents are talking about one unique flood phenomenon, the likes of which have never lived before. “We have never seen such a flood before. We also experienced Janos, that was something else, much bigger…” some say, at park of Agios Thomas, in Larissa. This is the district with the greatest damage. The water has covered houses, cars and machinery. All traffic on the roads to Agios Thomas and by extension to Trikala and Karditsa has been stopped. The height of the water does not allow the passage of vehicles in the area of ​​the Agricultural School and in the park of Agios Thomas. From last night and gradually, until the morning, both water and electricity were cut off.

Cause of the extensive flooding in the area of ​​Pinios. Its overflow created a reverse flow of water, into wells within the city. That is, the water returned through anti-drainage works, some of which had even been created after “Janos” to collect rainwater and direct it to the river.

This time, the swollen river was unable to receive rain, instead it fed water into pipelines and pumped it into the city.

In Agios Thomas, although the water has already reached two meters in some places, the wells are still gushing. The residents of the area are watching the rising water level with composure. Of course, since yesterday they have come out of basements and ground floors in these areas and have moved to safer places.

At this moment rescue crews have come from all over Greece” says Yannis Xanthopoulos, a member of the Greek Rescue Team operating in Agios Thomas Larissis and continues: “Now we got a call to extricate a child who is on mechanical support, the power has gone out and needs to be taken to another location. After that, priority is given to the elderly and children. We are trying to get them out because we don’t know how long they can stay in their homes under these conditions.”

This is exactly the question that torments Vana Hahamis, a resident of Larissa, who, at a distance of ten meters from her parents’ house, in the area of ​​DEVAL, just waits, unable to do the slightest thing, to intervene. In her place are hundreds of Larisa residents from other districts who have elderly relatives, trapped in their homes. Without electricity and without water and despite the fact that the height of the water does not exceed maybe one to one and a half meters, they are unable to move. Some relatives rush into the flooded areas in raincoats and overalls to pick up their loved ones on makeshift rafts. Others wait on rooftops and balconies. And their relatives, from other areas, have come as close as possible to them to do what they can, in case the situation worsens.

“My parents and my brother are on the first floor and on the second floor the basement was flooded,” says Mrs. Hahami and continues: “My dad is 80 years old, my mom is 75. How can they get out? And what should I do? Taking the fire department makes no sense. He goes where people are in danger. I know, that as mine are, they are in many areas in Larissa. I’m just waiting here, just to know that they’re in good health.”

At the DEVAL site, the water covers the basements and reaches up to one and a half meters between the houses. Half a kilometer from there, at the boundaries of the Philippoupoli settlement, the water has cut off networks, communications, transportation…

The situation is the same in Agia Marina, the first district that one encounters when coming to Larissa from Thessaloniki. To the right of the road, the water has covered photovoltaic installations, sports facilities and football pitches, silos, warehouses. A short distance away, the river has taken over both sides of the road. Unless the water recedes, it is impossible to make a safe estimate of the damage.

On the road to Agios Thomas, a large area of ​​nurseries has been covered by the waters. From the street you can see the greenhouses, in which the water level has risen to the roof. “I think that for us, the destruction is 100%” says the owner of the nursery Lefteris Damasiotis and adds: “I’m not just talking about the plants: olives, fruit trees, ornamentals. I’m also talking about the equipment: the pomonas, the facilities, everything. It is impossible for anything to have been saved. Sixty-six acres of field, facilities, networks, all flooded. I’m also talking about the others next door that have total destruction, nurseries from the opposite bank of the river, etc. Everywhere you look, you see damage. We, as businesses, will do everything we can to recover, but the damage is such that we won’t be able to operate if the state doesn’t help us.”

In the center of Larissa there are currently no major problems, apart from the increased traffic. EKAV ambulances, fire brigade and civil protection vehicles are in constant motion, along with army vehicles. The traffic wardens are at the points where the rescuers are operating and are closing the roads in the flooded areas, while diverting the traffic of vehicles heading towards Karditsa and Trikala, again towards the city and the Thessaloniki-Athens highway. The efforts of rescue crews continue and everyone is waiting for the waters to recede to assess the magnitude of the disaster.

At the same time, crews from the competent services of the Municipality and the Region are reinforcing the banks of the river with sandbags in order to prevent the volumes of water from flooding the streets and ground floors of shops within the city.