More than 20,000 people were evacuated due to fires in Greece

Greek firefighters refer to the Rhodes forest fire situation as one of the most severe in history.
More than 20 thousand people – tourists and local residents-were evacuated due to forest fires on the Greek island of Rhodes, Reuters reported on Monday, July 24.

Tour operators brought home about 1,500 vacationers during the day. Prior to that, more than 19,000 people had been evacuated from the island since July 19 due to the fire reaching coastal resorts in southeastern Rhodes. Greek rescue services reported that fires on the island created one of the most difficult situations in history. 

The fires also provided information about the evacuation of about 2,500 people from the island of Corfu in the northwest of the mainland part of Greece. At the same time, some of them have already managed to return to their hotels, Reuters writes. 

Rhodes experienced wildfires due to extreme heat and drought. Over the past week, the air temperature in the south of the continental part of Greece rose to 44 degrees Celsius. Synoptics warn that a scorching wave can last longer.