New Democracy’s executive state “has sunk in Thessaly’s plain,” PASOK-Movement for Change (KINAL) Nikos Androulakis said on Thursday, stressing that is inconceivable to find out that today is the first day the army is helping remove the carcasses of (farm) animals, while all of Thessaly is in danger of becoming a health timebomb.”
Androulakis also criticised the coordinating center’s meetings in Larissa without representatives from the National Public Health Organization (EODY) being present, while residents are facing infections.
“Human lives have been lost. At this point, Greece’s heart of production is in a dismal state. Citizens are becoming desperate and each of us, especially the government, ought to take a reliable and responsible stance, because the problem is big and communication handling is not what is needed,” he underlined.
Flood-hit residents to receive urgent aid, Government says
Residents and business owners of areas fully flooded after the storm will be granted an emergency economic subsidy automatically, without needing to apply for it, Deputy Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Christos Triantopoulos said during a briefing on Thursday.
“At this phase,” he reiterated, “on-site inspections do not need to take place in areas that have been designated as completely inundated by water. An automated process of depositing the financial subsidy will be followed for lost household equipment and for urgent needs; no on-site inspection is necessary, neither is an application on the online platform,” Triantopoulos said.
The staff of the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection ministry and the Independent Public Revenues Authority (AADE) is working on the automated process to ensure those in all areas affected by the ‘Daniel’ storm receive the funding as soon as possible.
A total of 6,764 residents of Thessaly have submitted final applications, with another 3,513 submitting temporary ones, Triantopoulos said.
Funding is as follows: up to 6,600 euros for household appliances and urgent needs; up to 10,000 euros as initial assistance for housing aid; and up to 4,000 euros for businesses and livestock farms, as initial aid. Applicants reside or work in a total of five prefectures.
Meanwhile, regular on-site inspections continue, he added.
Thessaly farmers issue urgent appeal for animal feed: ‘Animals that survived floods will die of starvation’
Animal breeders in central Greece lost over 50,000 animals in the floods, while the surviving flocks face an urgent shortage of animal feed, farmers said in Thessaly.
According to early estimates, nearly 100,000 young animals drowned in the floods of Thessaly and parts of Central Greece, central to Greek agricultural and livestock economy.
A cremation unit for dead animals at the Industrial Region of Larissa in Thessaly is in operation, Agricultural Development and Food Minister Lefteris Avgenakis said on Thursday during the briefing on the storm’s repercussions.
The crematorium can handle 250 tons every 12 hours or 10,000 dead animals a day, Avgenakis said, who noted that 40 members of the Armed Forces are assisting in the collection of the animals’ bodies.
According to the Organization of Greek Agricultural Insurance (ELGA), the following animals were lost to the storm (data up to Thursday afternoon):
– 61,786 sheep and goats
– 19,355 swine
– 5,306 cattle
– 123,810 poultry
Up to Thursday afternoon, the bodies of a total of 27,736 sheep and goats, 10,103 swine, 44 cattle and 25,400 poultry had been recovered for burial or cremation.
The minister also noted that a total of 37 tons of animal feed have been distributed through the Civil Protection’s and the Army’s helicopters to areas without road access. He also thanked private donors and the Association of Greek Cooperatives (EThEAS) for animal feed, the latter calling on its members, who contributed 100 tons transported by 13 trucks.
Yiannis Kokouras, mayor of Tyrnavos near Larissa, told the Praktoreio FM 104.9 radio of the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA) that the livestock breeders in the area managed to save 25,000 sheep that are roaming in unpenned areas and are facing severe issues in feed.
“Large livestock units were destroyed, and it is unfortunately the time of productive process – sheep are now starting to give birth,” Kokouras explained.
“Therefore, they need immediately animal feed and spaces to be transferred to. They are now held within parks and areas in Ambelonas. They don’t know where to take them. Some livestock associations from other regions responded and sent us [feed], and we are trying to buy also. But 25,000 sheep are a lot – we have as many sheep as we do people, in our township,” he underlined, stressing that “animals that survived the floods are facing death by starvation.”
In addition, vineyard owners cannot access their land, a lot of which are under water, and it is now grape-collecting season, while the wastewater-processing plant went out of order as the water is two meters high.
In equally key production center Elassona, the storm and floods did not destroy everything, National Association of Livestock Breeders secretary general Nikos Palaskas told Praktoreio.
Compared to the rest of Thessaly, “which underwent total destruction, we barely survived,” he said.
“We are now threatened by infections from the dead animals. Unfortunately, the process of collecting them is taking a long time. It is very difficult to approach the livestock units still under water, and wherever animals have survived, they throw animal feed down by air,” the farming official said.
“To buy 1,000 animals, you need 250,000 euros. To build a livestock unit to you need at least 1 million euros. The assistance of 5,000-6,000 euros is not enough even for a week’s animal feed. Whoever has animals that survived will have to face the winter, and those who lost them will replace them with difficulty,” Palaskas added.
Assistance from several simultaneously funded programs, such as those for new farmers or for improvement plans, will be facilitated and extended by six months, he added, while the option to extend public and land reclamation works in Thessaly and Fthiotida will be available by application. A list of general directives for the speedier reclamation of land will be issued in the coming days. It will include how to handle the earth and materials carried to the fields by the floods, which will be used to restored licensed mines.
In addition, the Greek Agricultural Organization ELGO-Demetra has begun taking samples to determine the new levels of earth fecundity and what the and use of fertilizers should be, Avgenakis said.
Flooding level still high on Athens-Thessaloniki national road, Fire Brigade says
In the triangle between Larissa, Karditsa, and Trikala, all basic roads are open, while the Trikala-Larissa road opened in both directions to traffic as of Wednesday afternoon, alternate Fire Brigade spokesperson Yiannis Artopios said on Thursday.
At the briefing at the Coordinating Operations Center in Larissa on the storm’s repercussions, Artopios said that the Athens-Thessaloniki national road remains shut to traffic due to flooding. He expressed the hope the flooding would subside enough so that it reopens soon.
Most areas that were flooded or completely submerged in the Karditsa area, including Palamas, are now accessible by road except for Metamorfossi, Marathea, Korda and Vlochos, which are accessible only by large vehicles. In Vlochos, in particular, residents have decided to remain in the village and that Fire Brigade and Civil Protection officers checked in with them on Thursday morning.
Keramidi near Trikala has been evacuated and remains inaccessible.
The mountain road network to Aspropotamos in Trikala is destroyed and villages in the region are being supplied with basic needs by helicopter, while efforts are focused on trying to open new access roads from Pyli through forestland.
In the Larissa prefecture, water pumping continues in the villages around the city proper, while the road from Larissa to Tyrnavos has been opened only to buses.
The Fire Brigade, Civil Protection, Armed Forces, and Hellenic Police as well as local government are all on standby in all areas that have become accessible, and the level of the floodwaters being monitored continuously.
Infections recorded in Thessaly within expected ranges, minister says
A total of 37 new cases of pulmonary infections and 36 new cases of gastrointenstinal infections were registered on Thursday at 26 National Health System health centers, Alternate Health Minister Irini Agapidaki said on Thursday.
During the daily briefing, Agapidaki said 1,152 people arrived at the centers in the last 24 hours. Overall since residents of Thessaly have been arriving at the centers after the storm, there have been 130 cases of gastroenteritis and 126 infections of the upper respiratory. “The number of these cases is not worrisome, because it was expected for the season,” she said.
Those requiring hospitalisations are in Magnissia and Karditsa, and none are in danger, nor is there a cluster breakout in any area, the minister said.
The confirmed pathogens, she said, included salmonella, enteropathogenic E. coli, rotavirus, and clostridium.
Agapidaki said that 25,000 galoshes and protective uniforms would be distributed to citizens to avoid infections from stagnant water in the region, and asked citizens who did not immediately need the material to wait for two days.
*With AMNA, ERT, Praktoreio
