Brits stranded on storm ravaged Greek island to be rescued
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irlines have outlined plans to deliver dwelling British vacationers who’ve been stranded on the storm ravaged Greek island of Skiathos since Monday.
Storm Daniel has triggered landslides, destroyed a bridge, triggered the collapse of energy poles and carried away dozens of automobiles in muddy waters throughout mainland Greece and islands.
Police banned site visitors on Skiathos as document rainfall triggered thigh-high flooding by streets and swept automobiles away. Four individuals had been reported lacking on Wednesday.
In an replace on Wednesday Jet2 mentioned it has determined to cancel all flights into Skiathos till Wednesday September 13, nevertheless it has made plans to rescue stranded holidaymakers.
The airline mentioned it plans to fly a scheduled programme of plane to Skiathos “with no customers onboard, so that we can bring customers back to the UK”.
“We believe that this is the right thing to do in terms of allowing the island and its population to quickly return to normal following this week’s events,” Jet2 mentioned in a sttement.
“We will be contacting affected customers with regards to their refund and rebooking options.
“We will review this flying programme closely and may put on additional aircraft to fly customers home if required.
“This announcement comes in addition to the cancellations to Skiathos that we have already made this week (six flights operating between Monday 4th and Wednesday 6th September).
“We will fly all customers affected by these cancellations back to the UK too, and we will communicate directly with them to let them know.”
Storm Daniel: Greece Floods | September 2023
Tui cancelled three flights on Tuesday and three on Wednesday and mentioned it’s “closely monitoring” the climate situations.
The airline mentioned in an announcement: “Our teams on the ground are working…to contact customers in resort and provide them with essential items, where possible, due to road closures and flooding. Customers are recommended to follow the advice of local authorities on the ground.
“We are working to get those currently in Skiathos back home to the UK as soon as it is safe to do so and we will contact them directly with their flight details once they are confirmed.
“We have made the difficult decision to cancel our flights on September 5 and 6.
“Customers due to travel on these flights are able to amend their holiday for free with a 10 per cent rebooking incentive or receive a full refund if they no longer wish to travel. We will be contacting these customers to discuss their options.”
Holidaymaker Emma Taylor, who has been stranded by the climate, advised MailOnline: “This is a serious storm. Flooding in our hotel corridors, ceilings, power cuts, and we’re lucky as we’re up high at the Skiathos Palace, Koukounaries.
“Some guests have been asked to check out of their rooms.”
Another holidaymaker advised the web site: “Food supplies are running out at the hotel. No more can be supplied because the road by our hotel has collapsed.
“The rain has been heavy for around 36 hours. Our hotel is now homing local families who have lost theirs on the beach.”
Some 10 individuals had been trapped on the banks of a torrent in southern Pelion, Michalis Mitzikos, an area mayor, advised Skai tv.
Greece has mentioned the climate was essentially the most excessive, when it comes to rainfall, since data have been stored.
“Yesterday the rainfall was very intense, unprecedented,” mentioned Vasilis Batsios, 44, in Volos.
“For 24 hours it was nonstop and there was a lot of water, the amount of water was unbelievable.”
The quantity of water that fell in Pelion on Tuesday was equal to annual rainfall in London, meteorologist George Tsatrafyllias mentioned on platform X, previously often known as Twitter.
Authorities despatched cell phone alerts in a number of different areas of central Greece, the Sporades island chain and the island of Evia warning individuals to restrict their actions outdoor.
A flooded restaurant is seen from a automotive in Skiathos
/ ANDREW CALLAGHAN by way of REUTERSGreece’s minister for civil safety, Vassilis Kikilias, mentioned the storms had been forecast to ease after midday on Wednesday and urged individuals in stricken areas to remain indoors.
The storm comes on the heels of main summer season wildfires that hit Greece over the previous few weeks, with some burning for greater than a fortnight and destroying huge tracts of forest and farmland.
More than 20 individuals had been killed within the fires.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis blamed each the wildfires and storms on local weather change, whereas conceding that his centre-right authorities “clearly didn’t manage things as well as we would have liked” on the wildfire entrance.
“I am afraid that the careless summers, as we knew them … will cease to exist and from now on the coming summers are likely to be ever more difficult,” he mentioned on Tuesday.