On foot are all the forces of the Fire Brigade, EMAK, Civil Protection, all the Armed Forces, the Greek Police together with the Region of Thessaly, volunteers and citizens in view of the bad weather “Elias”, emphasized in a briefing, the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilias from the Business Coordination Center in Larissa.

“It is a collaboration of these three bodies so that in every vulnerable area of ​​the Region, in every village that was flooded, in every point where problems were created since the last summers “Daniel”, we are there,” he said.

Mr. Kikilias said that the National Meteorological Service has upgraded and updated the Emergency Bulletin of Weather Phenomena and for this reason he asked “everyone to show a lot of attention”, adding that in the next few hours the phenomena of bad weather will start in Thessaly.

As he said, the combination of bad weather conditions with the burden on infrastructure throughout the Region, “causes us to be here and to work together”.

“For all this we need the help and cooperation of citizens. I would like to ask that we faithfully and very carefully follow the instructions as they come from the Greek Police, the Fire Brigade and see how this phenomenon will develop. First of all, for today, Monday, it seems that in the next few hours it will start here in Thessaly, and let’s see how it will develop, tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday according to what the National Meteorological Service says”, noted Mr. Kikilias

Furthermore, Mr. Kikilias underlined that strong forces are in the Region. “There are more than 1,500, 1,600 police officers. There are more than 2 companies of the Armed Forces, 70 people of the 7th MAK are more than 108, 110 media operators”, he noted, stressing that the support from the armed forces is very great. He added that “the Region of Thessaly has made great efforts despite the very great difficulties that actually exist so that with its workers and with its machines it can open beds, they operate on bridges, in streams in rivers and in inaccessible difficult areas”.

“Once again I want to remind you that we are all fighting this battle together. It’s a concerted effort. Above all, it is the value of human life, this is the first thing that interests us, and from then on, to deal with the bad weather in the best possible way, defending everything else that exists”, noted Mr. Kikilias.

On his part, Chief of Operations of the Fire Brigade Major General Thanasis Balafas He said that they have “prepared for the worst and expected the best” and that they are on partial general alert in other areas such as Central Greece, Evia, Attica and the Peloponnese, but the forces in Thessaly are stronger because they have “damaged” infrastructure than before bad weather phenomenon.

In particular, he noted that in the area there are 650 firefighters, 140 fire engines, boats of the 3rd, 4th and 8th EMAK, EMODE forces, 3 firefighting helicopters plus 4 of the army.

Then the Commander of the 5th Health Region Fotis Seretis stated that 48 new cases of gastroenteritis and 86 respiratory infections have been recorded, while an influx of gastroenteritis cases was recorded in a settlement in Larissa.

At the same time, he stated that there is 1 possible case of leptospirosis and that the coordinator was informed of three cases of leptospirosis in stray dogs collected by the animal welfare company and appealed to the municipalities to take care of the management of stray dogs that may be infected through contact with contaminated water .

The changes presented regarding water is in:

  • Municipality of Zagora Morissou unsuitable water for the entire municipality
  • Municipality of Tyrnavos, the water is unsuitable for the settlement of Lygaria
  • Municipality of Kilelere suitable for the community of Kalamaki
  • Municipality of Agia unsuitable for the community of Agia

V. Kikilias visited the areas of Thessaly affected by the catastrophic floods

The minister has been in Thessaly since yesterday afternoon. In Larissa, he held an emergency meeting at the Operations Coordination Center, during which the data was analyzed and updated instructions were given regarding the measures to deal with the Elias bad weather.

Today, starting in the morning, the minister went to areas that were severely affected by the recent catastrophic floods and are particularly burdened (Mikro Evdrio, Karditsa Delta, Karditsa Suburb, Mouzaki, Farkadona, Keramidi, Vlohos and in Palamas).

Mr. Kikilias spoke with firefighters and men of ELAS and the Armed Forces who are on alert as well as those who operate in these areas together with workers and machines of the Region of Thessaly. The work to clear streams, rivers and bridges of drift material, to open beds, as well as to restore embankments continues despite the difficulties.

Mr. Kikilias, speaking to residents of the villages hit by Daniel, said that the bad weather that begins today is a second test for everyone, a battle that he stressed “we will all fight together”.

See the update:

Marinakis: The government is ready with all available forces in view of the bad weather – Over 1,600 police and 650 firefighters in Thessaly

The state apparatus is on heightened alert in the already burdened areas in view of the new bad weather, the government representative pointed out earlier, Pavlos Marinakis.

As he pointed out, public services in the region of Thessaly will not operate on a case-by-case basis, while schools will remain closed and lessons will be taught via distance learning.

The schools in Makrakomi, Sperchiada and Domoko will also remain closed and distance learning will take place until Wednesday.

They also clean rivers, streams, wells and restore embankments. As he said, 650 firefighters and 140 vehicles are operating in the area, and he has also strengthened his staff. At the same time, the EL.AS is on standby in the wider area of ​​Thessaly with 1,639 police officers and 766 vehicles. In a state of readiness are 6 aerial vehicles and three ships of the coast guard as well as the personnel of the “Xenokratis” project.

The Armed Forces are also on standby, while message 112 was sent to Thessaly, Sporades, Fthiotida and northern Evia. Specifically, in the area there are 70 people of the 7th MAK with 10 boats and the required equipment, two companies (120 people) with 24 boats, 108 media operators, 19 civil engineers, and 1 sanitary-veterinary officer. By land means, there are 3 armored vehicles, 11 general purpose vehicles, 3 thrusters, 3 loaders and 1 earth leveller, 3 special vehicles with decontamination equipment, 3 trenchers, 7 dump trucks, 7 tugs, 12 additional boats, 2 buses and 1 water treatment machine, while the forces will be further strengthened with 14 loaders and 14 tippers, as well as 4 light poles with double crews, in order to be able to work at night as well.

As mentioned by the government representative, interventions are being completed on the bridge of Giannoulis and Eneipaia river, in the mountainous network of Pelion, in Trikala and Karditsa.
“The Greek government is on standby with all its available forces with the aim of protecting human life, property and critical infrastructure,” he said characteristically.

For state aid to those affected

Regarding the state aid to those affected by the floods as well as by them, the government representative stated that 25,000 final applications have been submitted on the arogi.gov.gr platform, while the autopsies from the levels have exceeded 17,000 and are continuing.

“A first compensation payment of 25 million euros has already been made, while a second payment of 10 million euros will be made today.” pointed out Mr. Marinakis.
“Furthermore, on September 20 and 21, new first aid payments were made to those affected by the fires. Almost 497,000 euros were credited to 104 beneficiaries. These include payments of 203,000 euros to 32 affected by the fires in the region of eastern Macedonia-Thrace, as first aid, but also 144,000 euros to businesses and livestock farms as first aid”

“In particular, almost 1,700,000 euros have been given as first aid so far,” he said.