The authorities are focusing this year mainly on prevention to deal with natural disasters. They want to protect tourists and visitors as much as possible from fires and floods. The images of last July in Rhodes had gone around the world. Fiery flames ten meters high being directed by the raging air towards the hotels. Within hours, around 20,000 tourists and residents in the southeastern part of the island were evacuated and taken to safe places. Extensive damage, burnt houses and charred olive groves were left behind. Nevertheless, tens of thousands still spend their holidays on the “island of the Knights”. Even a few days after the restoration of flights, many came to Rhodes again to support the locals financially. What can they expect this year in Rhodes and other Greek holiday resorts?

An unprecedented wave of solidarity

“The repairs are almost complete,” reassures the mayor of the island, Alekos Koliadis. “Of course this was done at a high financial cost, not only for the hotels but also for all the other tourism businesses, restaurants and shops.” As far as nature is concerned, the burned forest and bush lands are being replanted and reforested. “However, farmers, breeders and beekeepers still face serious problems,” he adds. The extent of the fires shocked the island’s residents. Many risked their lives to protect their homes, their villages, their livelihoods. “There was a lot of solidarity,” emphasizes Mr. Koliadis, saying that the fires showed that the people of Rhodes stood together in times of need. This also applies to many other regions of Greece that were affected by natural disasters last year. In the north-east of the country, last August a large part of the incomparably beautiful Dadia Forest National Park burned.

In September in central Greece, Larissa, Volos, other smaller towns and villages and the surrounding rural areas were flooded after several days of heavy rain. People lost their lives even though the civil protection authorities consistently and quickly organized the evacuation of the houses. The wave of solidarity surpassed any precedent, not only from Greeks but also from foreign lovers of Greece. For those forced to cancel their Rhodes holiday last July because of the fires, the government offered a trip at the start or end of this season, free for a week. Much more important, however, is the future response to natural disasters.

From firefighting to prevention

“Firefighting is an expensive and often ineffective business,” says Mr. Koliadis and warns about the coming months: “In Rhodes we experienced a winter with little rain and we expect a very hot summer like many other countries in southern Europe.” Therefore, prevention is the key. Among the measures taken are stricter penalties for arson by negligence and with intent. Experts say the majority of fires are caused by human behavior.

The climate crisis has reached Greece. Experts, environmentalists and politicians agree on this, as do Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Rhodes Mayor Alekos Koliadis. The government recently announced that it will invest €2.1 billion in disaster prevention. “The “Aegida” action program is necessary because the climate crisis has been around for a long time,” said the Greek Prime Minister. The fires of 2023 showed that nothing will be the same again. Citizen Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias announced that he expects another summer of forest fires, because the last winter in Greece was hot and dry.

Among other things, ten additional firefighting helicopters, five firefighting planes and hundreds of new vehicles are to be purchased for the fire service. Investments are also to be made in civil protection infrastructure, technical equipment and new technologies such as drones, which could be used to fight fires in hard-to-reach areas. The mayor of Rhodes believes that tourists are very aware of climate change. “They’re not surprised by the weather on vacation. I’d say they’ve already adjusted.” Ultimately, this applies to everyone: “We need to change our attitude towards nature and act accordingly.”

Editor: Irini Anastasopoulou