Following the severe flash floods caused by the bad weather over the weekend, the situation in Karditsa, a city in western Thessaly in mainland Greece, remains complex.
Bridges have been destroyed and the road network has suffered extensive damage, while many areas have been cut off completely and farmers are in despair, having lost large amounts of livestock.
SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras also visited the region of Karditsa on Monday to see the damages.
During his visit he saw "an image of total destruction, where citizens, professionals, shop-keepers, have lost their companies, their merchandise, even their home appliances."
The main opposition party leader underlined that a lack of flood protection measures is to blame for these property damages, an issue that both the central and local governments are responsible for.
The settlements of Oxia are inaccessible as the road network has been destroyed, the mayor of Mouzaki, Fanis Stathis told ANA.
At the moment, work to restore the road network are in progress, while the transfer of the inhabitants to other parts of the Regional Unit of Karditsa is also planned.
Αυτό που συνάντησα κατά την επίσκεψή μου στις πληγείσες περιοχές του Νομού Καρδίτσας είναι μια εικόνα ολικής καταστροφής - μια εικόνα που δεν μπορείς εύκολα να περιγράψεις. Υπάρχουν πολύ μεγάλες ευθύνες αλλά το κρίσιμο τώρα είναι να μπορέσουμε να απαλύνουμε τον πόνο των κατοίκων. pic.twitter.com/4yQLNfyCOF
— Αλέξης Τσίπρας - Alexis Tsipras (@atsipras) September 21, 2020
Tsipras observed that all the local professionals and shopkeepers he spoke to while visiting Karditsa mentioned that the extent of the damages they suffered by Ianos does not fall below the €100,000 mark, therefore the government's "meager benefits of €600, of €5,000 or €8,000 do not suffice to solve the problem."
"I want to call on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to not hesitate to come here and hear the citizens' complaints, as opposed to mayors, the governor and his ministers who came by helicopter to allegedly announce relief measures," he added.
Cyclone Ianos, has left three people dead and another reported missing, after the severe weather phenomena swept from the Ionian Islands through central Greece this weekend.
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