Work continues to restore power, road access in Thessaly, Evia villages; Volos water distribution continues

Villages in the plain of Thessaly, towns outside Volos, and villages of northern Evia continued to face severe infrastructure problems following two successive storms of ‘Daniel’ and ‘Elias’ that flooded them and swept away structures, authorities said on Sunday.

Thessaly

Flood waters have receded in the villages belonging to the municipality of Palamas, central Greece, that was severely affected by the two storms Daniel and Elias, Deputy Regional Governor of Karditsa Prefecture Constantine Noussios told Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA) on Sunday.The villages where streets and courtyards are still flooded are Metamorfossi and Vlochos.

Noussios said that local authorities are focusing on accessibility and road connections, while crews Thessaly Region crews are working on rural roads, bridges, cleaning creeks and ditches, restoring river embankments, removing objects swept onto roads by the floods.

In a post on social media earlier in the day, the Greek premier had said gastroenteritis infections from flooded areas did not register an influx of infection cases. In addition, he had noted that the collection of dead animals had been hampered in areas of Trikala, Larissa, and Karditsa because the water levels were still high, while elsewhere it had been nearly completed and those regions were now being disinfected.

Residents of the Palamas region called a Karditsa-wide rally around noon on Sunday in which they demanded emergency aid, full remuneration for damages (100%), and immediate construction of necessary antiflooding works. The rally was attended by associations and unions at Palamas’ central square and condemned the delay of projects that should have been carried out after the Ianos storms three years ago.

They also demanded that the Palamas Health Center return to operation because of the higher health needs of the area, the Palamas municipality to house all those who were left homeless after the floods, and to remove the huge masses of destroyed home appliances from the villages.

Volos and Pilio

The city of Volos in Magnissia Prefecture continued to clean out the mud on streets and homes. It also continued to distribute free bottled water to residents, as the water supply network suffered extensive damage from the storms and pumping stations are not working.

Some water is supplied to homes but it is not for drinking or cooking use, according to authorities.

Daniel, which cost the lives of people in Volos and Mt. Pilio villages, has swept away roads and left villages isolated in chaos.

In Volos’ northern suburbs, road access is not fully restored after the Krafsidonas River overflowed, while the coastal resort of Anavros has been wiped out along with the traditional tavernas that used to serve Volos vacationers for over a century.

In the suburb of Agria, the mud has been moved aside to allow traffic to go through but hundreds of cars are stuck in the mud or in the sea, while in Alykes the water rushing down from Panorama destroyed everything in its path until it reached the sea. Boulders and rocks have shut down road traffic and covered village squares. The area still has no water.

Most schools will reopen on Monday in central Volos, but the University of Thessaly is faced with logistical issues as final examinations cannot take place even online for lack of power and Internet access, forcing cancellations. All schools in the Zagora-Mouressi municipality will reopen on Monday.

In Magnissia, from midday Wednesday (Sept. 27) to 07:00 Sunday, the Fire Brigade had received 2,340 calls for help. A total of 485 pumpings of flood water have been carried out and 312 people transferred to safe places.

Overall, in the Thessaly region that includes the Palamas villages, Magnissia Prefecture, and Larissa, the Fire Brigade received a total of 10,596 calls from September 5 (Tuesday) to Sunday, resulting in 3,896 pumpings of flood water and 3,579 transfers of people to safe areas.

Northern Evia

In northern Evia, authorities are struggling to restore access to villages in the area with the help of the Armed Forces. Earth-moving machinery from the municipalities, the Central Greece Region, and private means have been added to Army machinery to help basic restore infrastructure. Local mayors in Evia and Fthiotida Prefecture, on the mainland, have said there is a lot of work before access to places are restored, including at Domokos.

Deputy Minister of Instrastructure and Transport Nikos Tachiaos paid a visit on Sunday to Mantoudi and Istiea in northern Evia, where he assured authorities that engineers would be arriving soon for inspections, while he asked for a list of prioritised buildings and infrastructure.

Several regions continue to face great infrastructural problems, especially for electricity. The Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator has provided several villages with power generators until the network is fixed.