'We didn't know Rhodes had been on fire when we got here - everything is normal'
Two weeks ago holiday companies were stopping flights to parts of Rhodes as wildfires ravaged parts of the picturesque Greek island
The infernos resulted in thousands of Brits facing evacuations from their hotel rooms - with some fleeing without their passports or cash. At the Tui sensatori Atlantica Dreams Resort in Gennadi, a village on the south east coast of the island, pools were emptied so fire fighters could use the water to douse the flames.
After coursing down miles of hillside killing 2,000 deer in the process, the blaze stopped just over the road from the hotel, 20m from the lobby. Fearful it would go further, staff evacuated the 1,000 booked residents and 3,000 who had already escaped the flames once before and were sheltering in the palatial lobby. They fled along the beach beneath great clouds of choking flames.
Travelling through the impacted area now, after driving through mile after mile of beautiful, unaffected countryside, the random power of wildfires is clear to see. Some hillsides are burnt to the ground along with the small houses and restaurants that sat on them. Others are either hardly scorched or partially, the flames stopping just centimetres from homes that stand in blackened fields.
Wildfires devastated parts of Rhodes (Supplied)When 25,000 holidaymakers were evacuated from hotels across the south of the island, news of their dramatic escape made frontpages across the world. Brits told of how they had to run for their lives for three hours. They said they could hear the huge flames “crackling” behind them before they were rescued by the army.
British family forced to abandon their Greece holiday as it's just too hot
Dramatic images of clouds of smoke and walls of flame seem like a distant memory now as the island bustles with Brits, Germans and Scandinavians just intent on having a good holiday. Some were unaware the fires happened at all.
Yvonne and her daughter Emily Hunter travelled from Manchester to celebrate their 57th and 21st birthdays to be among them. They didn't know Rhodes had been ablaze when they booked the trip a week later.
“I knew there were fires in Greece but I didn’t know it was so close. I had no idea,” Yvonne told the Mirror. "My husband had said there are no warnings so it must be fine. We only found out it came so close when we got here. This place is beautiful.
"Everything has been normal for us, except you can see the burnt ground from our balcony. The staff are so kind to us. Some have lost their homes. They must be traumatised. It is so sad for them.”
More than three million people visit Rhodes and stay in its 546 hotels each year. Two weeks after the fires were put out, the TUI Sensatori is back up to 95% occupancy and the atmosphere in the hotel is relaxed.
The same is true of hotels across the worst affected regions of the island, all but two of which are still standing, most with no damage. Some are pushing to get 70% occupancy rates back up to where they were pre-fire, but most are already there.
George Hatzimarkos, the cheerful governor of the South Aegean Islands, praised Rhodians' response to the blaze and made an impassioned plea to the British public to return to the island.
"It is now absolutely safe," he told the Mirror from the townhall in Rhodes City, where even the smallest trace of the fires is impossible to find.
"When 25,000 people in less than six hours were absolutely safely relocated, they received a big hug and much respect and love."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
