Greece wildfires force Maryland tourists to scramble and evacuate: 'a lot of sadness'
BALTIMORE - George Pappas said his family's trip started off as a nice vacation before quickly turning into chaos.
More than 30,000 people have been evacuated in parts of Greece as wildfires sweep through two Coastal areas surrounding the southeast of Rhodes in Greece.
Scorching temperatures have fueled the fueling the wildfires, displacing many people, including some Maryland tourists.
Pappas, who is from Maryland, was forced to scramble and evacuate with his family. He was visiting friends and family in Greece for the summer.
Those wildfires are forcing people to leave behind everything they own with no idea when the fire will be put out.
Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned that the country will face another few difficult days ahead.
Pappas told WJZ News they were forced to evacuate the village of lanana and find shelter in Rhodes.
"It just kind of goes into survival mode and management mode right away," Pappas said.
Pappas said the evacuations forced thousands of people to pack up what they could and quickly escape.
"It's a lot of sadness, empathy for the people that you know a lot of locals here are hand to mouth," Pappas said. "So when I see their livelihood being stripped away from them, it's heart-wrenching.
Fire officials say the worst of the fires are in areas where there are a lot of tourists.
For 12 days, they say they've battled about 500 fires and more than 50 a day.
