After a fierce battle with flooding waters, the evacuated Ormenio village in the Evros prefecture in Thrace was saved when local authorities built a one-kilometer levee on the outskirts of the village.
The evacuated village that belongs to the Oresteiada Municipality was not flooded completely. One hundred houses, the total of residences, were saved by the levee.
The mayor of nearby Soufli, Greece , Evangelos Poulilios, said that floods will not stop for the next two months as the area receives flooding waters from neighboring Bulgaria. Bulgarian dams canalize excess water to the Evros region. Poulilios says that this is a constant nightmare for area residents. Furthermore, the Evros River is flooding when there are extreme rainfalls.
Municipal workers, staff from the Eastern Macedonia and Thrace District, army, police and fire brigade forces, and locals are working continuously to build new levees so that flooding waters don’t destroy homes and businesses.
After the extreme weather conditions over the last few days, many Evros River levees have been severely damaged, allowing excess water to enter farms and villages. Authorities have advised that all farm animals and machinery be moved to safer areas. Most residential areas, farms and businesses have been put on alert for the remainder of December.
So far it has been estimated that over 100,000 acres of land have been flooded, but it is hard to calculate damages at the moment. Locals speak of serious damages to agricultural businesses and homes, while most farmers are in despair seeing their crops completely destroyed by water.
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