Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visits flood-hit Evia

PM Mitsotakis

PM Mitsotakis

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday afternoon, visited the flood-affected areas in Evia.

The death toll from floods triggered by thunderstorms that hit Evia, rose to 8 authorities announced on Monday.

Among the victims was a 8-month-old baby from the village of Politika, who passed away after slipping from the hands of his father, who lost his balance from the rushing waters.

“The torrent caught them while they were asleep. The frightened father got up, picked up the baby and ran with his wife to leave the house. As soon as they opened the door of the house to get out, the torrent pushed them and the baby slipped from his arms. The mother was shouting for her child, they had no electricity, they could not see anything, it was pitch dark and they were all swept away by the water,” a local resident told media.

The PM again expressed his pain and condolences to the families of the victims.

After assessing the situation, he said that the state will stand by Evia residents and businesspeople who lost their properties.

An emergency fund of 1.2 million euros will be allocated to the flood-stricken areas, the Interior Ministry announced.

Accompanied by several ministers and civil protection authorities, the Greek PM said he would push for fast compensation.

Speaking of destroyed crops and flooded farmland, Mitsotakis said he will request the presence of Agriculture Ministry officials on the assessment team for farmers' compensations, "because I realise that it may not just be this year's crop they lost, but their farmland may have also suffered infrastructural damage."

The Greek PM also spoke highly of emergency responders, including search and rescue teams, firefighters and Civil Protection staff, and said they were fighting on multiple fronts the past few months - coronavirus pandemic, fires and floods, among other emergencies.

According to the Fire Department they responded to 495 calls, of which 47 concerned people trapped in their homes and cars. At least eight of these calls were responded to and helicopters evacuated people. The rest were calls to drain flooded homes.

Following on-site tours of areas, the PM chaired a meeting with local government officials and ministers on the situation.