“Thessaly is being tested hard. We are living the consequences of a monstrous disaster, as a result of an unprecedented weather phenomenon that has never happened before nor could be predicted in its full extent,” said the regional governor of Thessaly, Kostas Agorastos, during today’s official briefing, stressing that at this moment “it is necessary to let’s move with efficiency and speed so that the people of Thessaly can get back on their feet.”

Among other things, the governor of Thessaly emphasized that in the Operations Coordination Center there is coordination with the relevant ministries to deal with the factors that arise, saying that “although one cannot say that everything went perfectly, but what is important is that in a weather phenomenon that exceeded all planning, we are here present at 100% of our capabilities”.

At the same time, Mr. Agorastos said that there was no delay and we did not avoid our responsibilities and we are with all our forces at the front line of the battle. He also emphasized that with the measures taken, access has been restored in many places, there is a business with machines in 74 places with more than 380 machines, the recording of damages continues so that the first compensations can be paid, the first items are provided needs of the residents, dead animals are collected, etc.

Referring to the responsibilities, the governor of Thessalia said that it is not the time to assign responsibilities and that he is obviously not the one who will assign them.

Referring to the district’s role, he said the district’s responsibility was to clean the streams, widen them, raise embankments and repair what Janus destroyed, stressing that “we did most of the flood control work that has been done all these years in Thessaly”. At the same time he said that “all these projects worked, but the phenomenon exceeded their endurance”.

Finally, he noted that we are facing a new reality due to the climate crisis and the anthropogenic interventions that cause it, stressing that “now more than ever is the time for scientists to plan what the protection mechanisms will be in this new reality”. He also emphasized that all the funding that has been foreseen and given by the State for these projects, with a specific technical report, have either been completed or are being completed. “Not a single euro was lost,” said the governor of Thessaly.