Greece is burning

We sit in then relative safety of the island, watching the agony of the country in flames on Greek TV. It is impossible to express the horror of what is happening as we see a nightmare unravelling in dramatic TV film footage throughout the day. Even shopping channels have stopped Perhaps the catastrophe can be best understood by a mobile phone call to a TV station which simply said “Help us, we are burning…..” . Huge flames engulf the countryside and plumes of smoke ominously mark the rapid spread of the fires. Villages surrounded with flame, no escape, mothers found dead clutching their children, distress on the faces of the people, the hopelessness of the old, homes burn - black and charred, dead animals are strewn around like litter, firefighters working desperately against all odds. Fires the length and breadth of this beautiful country.

It truly is a Greek tragedy, with so many people dying. It is hard not to be emotionally drawn into the hopelessness of the situation. Two haunting images shown on television remain in my mind’s eye, a firefighter climbing to the top of a church to ring the bell as a warning to villagers and another of a priest standing in front of the flames holding out a wooden cross asking for God’s help. I hope that I will also forget some of the others.

Maybe the winds that drive the flames will die down today. It is hard to believe that it has not been organised somehow, otherwise why are there not big fires throughout the islands?