The cost of rebuilding Thessaly in central Greece after last year’s destructive floods, which killed 17 people, will reach 3.5 billion euros, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday.
In September 2023, Storm Daniel deluged Thessaly, one of Greece’s breadbaskets, destroying homes, businesses, and infrastructure.
“It was essentially the biggest natural disaster that the Greek state had to manage in its history and our estimate is that the total cost of the reconstruction of Thessaly will exceed 3.5 billion euros,” Mitsotakis said during Tuesday’s visit to the region, adding that the state is more prepared than ever to deal with its financial aftermath.
“If this natural disaster found us in another economic situation, things would certainly be much more difficult,” he said.
Mitsotakis opened the Regional Center for Civil Protection Operations of Thessaly and the new facilities of the Regional Fire Administration of Thessaly.
“The regional coordination center, gives us much greater operational readiness and, most importantly…much better insight into the real conditions in the field,” the Greek PM said.
“Our government is making a great effort to strengthen Civil Protection in the country, spending more than 2 billion euros, primarily of European resources, to strengthen Civil Protection infrastructure,” he added.
Proposals to deal with the Thessaly floods
Dutch experts have proposed massive infrastructure works, including the relocation of entire villages, in Greece’s Thessaly Plain to prevent future floods.
After the deadly floods of last September in Thessaly, Greece requested the assistance of the Dutch experts of HVA, an agricultural development and asset management company with experience in mega projects around the globe.
The Netherlands has developed due to its constant battle with the sea and the management of the waters of the River Rhine.
It proposes, among other things, a series of measures such as controlled flooding, relocation of villages and agricultural land, building dams, opening tributaries, and changing agricultural production.
HVA’s scientists who spent weeks examining the Thessaly Basin say that work should be completed within six years.
They warn that the region is facing the risk of completely exhausting its water reserves. They also say that inhabitants should get used to phenomena such as the Mediterranean cyclones that hit twice in the last three years.
“The inhabitants of Thessaly also have to accept,” say the Dutch scientists, “as the inhabitants of other European countries have been forced to do after severe floods, that some areas will have to be ceded to give space to the rivers.”
They propose that more space must be given to the three main rivers in Thessaly: Acheloos, Pinios, and also Litheos, which cross the city of Trikala.
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