Gov’t scrambles to mitigate disaster effects

Workers stand on a bulldozer in a flooded area after a rainstorm, in Larissa, Thessaly region, central Greece, Thursday. [AP]

The images of absolute devastation caused by the floods triggered by the Daniel weather front in Thessaly and central Greece have once again highlighted the shortcomings in the operation of the state mechanism, prompting Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to postpone his visit to the 87th Thessaloniki International Fair (September 9-17), where he had been scheduled to present the government's four-year plan and hold a major press conference. 

The decision was taken in response to the trail of destruction left behind by Daniel as evidenced by the loss of life and the number of missing persons, and the yet incalculable damage to infrastructure and property.

A government source told Kathimerini that "the scale of the disaster is incalculable at this moment" saying that "the true extent of the disaster is still not known."

Mitsotakis, the source said, could not go...

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