Damn, 50 people at least roasted alive or choked to death, that is sad. Let's hope it won't be double or triple that number.
These are catastrophic numbers for such an event. The speed of these fires spreading must be faster than the fires we have here in Cali and other western states? To catch this many people unprepared with no time to evacuate I mean. Jesus. Never heard of such a thing
Well, bad as they can be, at least this should not implode civilization in those areas, as a long drought did to the Mayan civilization long ago, eventually creating remnants overtaken by jungle, to be discovered later on in history. Weather and weather related events apparently have decimated civilization throughout human history. They blamed it on their gods being angry, while some of us blame it on man as well. I guess the mayans pissed off their gods and lost their civilization while as we pissed off mother nature, and put too much co2 from fossil fuels into her lungs, and she reacted and gave us wild fires, and droughts. I am sure the priests of the Mayans were telling the people to act right, or else, and our new priests, that we call climatologists are doing the same thing. ha ha ha. We even have some people say that scientists are now the new priesthood, of the Church of Science, or Scientology, if you will. ha ha. I apologize for making light of these wild fires. I once heard Gary Snyder, the poet, and environmentalist say that the indigenous people of america did a better job of controlling inevitable wild fires by a controlled burning of the under brush that enables such large fires. So it seems, according to him that the Amerindians were not living in a natural wilderness but were involved in maintaining their environment in their own best self interests. It just looked like a wilderness to europeans, but was a maintained environment, intelligently maintained to the best of their ability.
A family friend lives in the area, and fortunately he is still alive and his house is intact. The House developments are relatively new, and I read that the fire advanced so quickly that there was no time to warn anyone. Many died drowning as they tried to escape. Had it not been so quick, the coast guard would have been able to save them. There are 76 dead and about 100 are missing, and all from a small area. It's now assumed the death toll will reach way over 100. They say that so far 4,000 homes have been burned, and that the fire is advancing towards Corinth and the refineries. What freaks me out, is that the only country with planes capable of battling large forest fires is Russia, and yet the idiot government, in a move to please Washington, (either that or they were blackmailed), banned some Russia diplomats last week. The Tsipras government should never have accepted Pyatt as the ambassador since he and Nuland are the ones who destroyed Ukraine. But then again are they given a choice? And about 200 miles north in Thessalonika they are having floods from the rains. You figure!
There is usually no rain in Greece during the summer, so fires are common. The Germans set fires in WWII, so the resistance wouldn't be able to hide, and recently the Turks have been suspected of setting them to destroy the economy, as well as reveal any hidden military installations.. Israel started having more rain after the settlers planted trees, so the Greeks began planting trees. Unfortunately many of these beautiful pines burn quickly. When a mountain caught fire near Athens, the city became 10 degrees hotter than before. I personally think that architecture and landscaping should take an area into account. I love trees, and they are needed in Greece for their humidity and rain factor, but they should be far away from residential homes in areas prone to dry and hot summers. The Greeks use more water than any country in Europe, and it all goes to water their gardens in the summer - not to mention swimming pools. Why not a desert landscape? Same with California. When I visited there once, I couldn't believe the landscaping. They even had sprinkler systems along the highways. Since I'm on the subject of California, according to Dutchsense, who is very accurate in warning about earthquakes and where they will strike, there are smoke plumes coming out of the ground in many areas in the West, and they can be seen on google earth. The government keeps attributing the fires to lightening, and yet there is no rain.
Well they caught one person, but if it is a foreign power, or some foreign group it won't be mentioned. Once when the Greek students were holding a peaceful protest in Athens, some masked men who could be heard speaking a foreign language began setting cars on fire. One even set a bank on fire in which a bank employer died. It shocked the nation - since Greeks don't usually kill - except in wars. The government wouldn't say where the anarchists were from. Maybe they were paid hush money - who knows?
Record high temperatures occurring all over the world,right wingers still insist no global warming including Der Feurher in the White House.
The temperature was 104 degrees Fahrenheit, and the wind was ferocious. From what I read, people tried to escape by getting in their cars and heading for the beach, but the traffic was immense and they panicked. The one town was completely wiped out. A family friend said he built his home in the area even though it was far from Athens, because of its dense forest. His house was not touched, but some birds in a cage died, and his trees are gone - as well as the church his daughter was going to be married in next week. The problem with Greece are the pines they planted. After the Germans set fire to the original forests to quash the resistance, the government began a program of planting trees. The pines they planted are fast growing, can tolerate the heat and summer drought, but are not indigenous to the country and burn easily. Of course there is always sabotage. The fires will usually break out en masse in the middle of August when the land is parched, and always on the day the trade winds start to blow. A few years back, about 30 fires broke out on the island of Chios - yet 8 miles across in Turkey, with the same weather conditions, not one fire was burning.
Nine-year-old twin sisters died hugging their grandparents in Greece wildfires... Twins died hugging their grandparents in Greece wildfires July 28, 2018 | Nine-year-old twin sisters missing in Greece’s wildfires died hugging their grandparents, officials confirmed.
Deadly California wildfire ‘taking down everything in path’... Deadly Northern California wildfire 'taking down everything in its path,' spawning 'firenadoes' 27, 2018 | A raging wildfire in Northern California that swelled in size Friday has killed two people and injured at least three firefighters, officials said.
I don't know what going on with the weather, but it's not good. The firestorm in Greece is strange, since there was never any wind in Athens until the trade winds would start in the middle of August. Nor did they have rain until September, and yet now it's coming down in buckets so that an Athens suburb has turned into a lake. As for California, I don't how we are going to survive, that's where most of our food comes from. Maybe it's time for towns and areas to become more self sufficient and not be so dependent on commerce for their sustenance.
Have you seen the movie "The magical legend of the leprechauns" - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0205214/? Are you kidding me? America is a vast agricultural land. And you are telling me you can't grow cucumbers and tomatoes in the Carolinas or Illinois?
yeh, partially true. In Australia I'm one hour north of the Black Saturday fires of 2009. 1800 houses and 180 deaths. The worst. The fire went so fast cars couldn't escape. Some burning from the melting bitumen. A couple of brothers saved themselves....sprinkler system on top of the gable roof, no trees within 30 metres from their house and plenty of water tanks.
Death toll from Greek wildfire reaches 91... Death toll from Greek wildfire reaches 91 as village grieves Jul 29, 2018 — Fire officials in Greece raised the death toll from a wildfire that raged through a coastal area east of Athens to 91 and reported that 25 people were missing Sunday, six days after Europe’s deadliest forest fire in more than a century.
Villagers told to GET OUT as forest fires RAGE through Greek island... GREECE WILDFIRES: Villagers told to GET OUT as forest fires RAGE through Greek island Sun, Aug 12, 2018 - GREEK fire crews have evacuated two villages on an island near Athens as a fire continues to rage through a pine forest, fanned by strong winds.
