Swiss relief mission in Greece: from flames to floods

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On Thursday, the suitcases for the return journey were almost packed. Since last weekend, three Super Puma helicopters of the Swiss army with a total of 23 crew members have been on a humanitarian aid mission in Greece. Their mission: fighting wildfires.

But since then the situation has changed dramatically. Greece is currently spared nothing. Floods followed the flames. Record amounts of rain have flooded towns and cities in many places in recent days. At the request of the Greek authorities, the Swiss rescuers started a new mission within hours. Suddenly, people trapped in the water are rescued.

Rescuers have never experienced anything like this

Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Glinz has never experienced anything like it. “Normally, the original order remains in force until the end,” says the commander of the military disaster response on site. This is also a challenge for the twenty members of the army’s professional corps and the three experts from the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit.

Mentally, the rescuers had to adapt to a completely new situation. “In the forest firefighting operations, after the first day, we knew what to expect and where the difficulties lay,” says Glinz. This was not the case before the departure to Volos in the heavily affected region of Thessaly. “That’s why mental preparation is important.”

But Glinz is convinced of his team. “We are flexible and ready to help where the Greek authorities need us,” he emphasises. It is true that they did not fly all the equipment to Greece for their original mission. However, they are well equipped for the transportation of material and people, as is now required.

More than 2,000 people have already been rescued

Hundreds of people were rescued from villages in the flooded areas of central Greece on Friday. The water masses cut them off from their surroundings for days. More than 2,000 people have been brought to safety since the rescue efforts began. Many were at the end of their strength, some had not eaten for days, barely drunk.

On Friday, the known death toll stood at seven, but it is feared there could be more. So far, rescuers have not been able to penetrate all of the flooded areas.

After all, the severe storm has passed since Friday. However, the full extent of the damage is only slowly becoming apparent, and many people have yet to be rescued. (dba)

Source:Blick