Greek farmers fear they won't ever recover from Storm Daniel

 Greek farmers fear they won't ever recover from Storm Daniel

People in Greece are calculating the financial impact of the disastrous floods that struck the country's center following Storm Daniel in early September.

In addition to the destruction of fruit trees, grain, and over a quarter of Greece's cotton harvest, over 200,000 livestock and poultry were also slaughtered.

According to academic estimates, the Greek economy could lose up to 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion; £4.3 billion) due to the short-term effects alone.

In central Greece, the Thessaly plain is one of the worst-affected regions.

There are concerns about the impact on food production because Thessaly is one of the primary agricultural regions of the nation.

Anthoula Pappa sat on a plastic chair outside her house and looked blankly at the heaps of her rotting and damaged belongings: wet garments, a television set, clothes, and mattresses and blankets.

Like many other homes in the farming community, her house was nearly completely drowned in the floodwaters.

The 54-year-old claimed, "Nothing was saved; the water was up to the roof."

We fled to safety as we watched the water rise incrementally until it reached the balcony railings, at which point I declared that "that's it, the house is destroyed."

Tents are currently where Anthoula and her family are residing.

Maria, her daughter, reported that the circumstances are appalling. They had gotten some food and water from volunteers, but no assistance from the authorities, she told the BBC. From the government, nothing. From the mayor, nothing. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

She indicated the neighboring house's roof from above. A rotting sheep's carcass that had been swept up by the floods was stuck up against the chimney.

She asked, "You see that sheep over there?" It is still present. The past 20 days. We'll become ill.

"This is our government's fault,"

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the prime minister of Greece, has pledged to provide the flood victims with assistance as soon as possible.

He said that Greece had "the financial resources and the mechanism for quick aid" so that people could "restart their lives, repair their homes... and operate their businesses again" in his first speech following the catastrophe.

But many here claim that it is simply insufficient.

Thanassis Thodos showed us what was left of his walnut grove in the nearby village of Lefki. Previously, he owned a thousand trees. Today, half of them have been destroyed.

"The trees were afflicted with bacteria, causing massive harm... This tree is visible; it is green, but its leaves are beginning to turn yellow, suggesting that it may be infected.

According to Thanassis, the issue goes beyond merely the trees' devastation. Electric motors and water pipes on our apparatus have also been shattered or lost.

How much will the state be able to contribute toward our compensation is the question.

He cast his gaze downward at a dead, overgrown tree.

"All I can think about is the ten years of labor, sweat, and agony. Right now, that is all I can see. I made an effort to do good, but my hopes were dashed.

The verdant region of Thessaly is frequently referred to as Greece's breadbasket. According to Spiros Kintzios, rector of the Greek Agricultural University, it accounts for around 20% of the nation's agricultural area and is crucial for the Greek cotton production, a significant export.

In the next months, he told the BBC, it will be able to transplant crops like grains and cotton, but it will take longer to rebuild orchards and herds of sheep and goats, which provide the milk for traditional Greek foods like feta cheese and yoghurt.

"Our housing infrastructure has been damaged, along with municipal services, roads, schools, primary health units, and other things. If we don't succeed in restoring them as soon as possible, we'll have the issue of the people having to relocate.

The worst-case scenario, according to Professor Kintzios, is that a significant portion of the population moves from rural areas to major cities. "I estimate that the cost, the direct immediate cost for the Greek economy, would be somewhere in the range of 4 to 5 billion euros if the worst-case scenario were to occur. And the overall cost would be three times that.

We ran into Petropoulos Vangelis at a cotton factory in the Palamas village as he was surrounded by trucks full of rotting, foul-smelling cotton. He informed us, "We won't have a crop this year, and those who were able to save their fields will have reduced output."

Many residents of this area expressed concern about price increases as a result of the harm done to infrastructure and agriculture.

Prices were high even before to the storm, according to Rizos Maroudas, head of the union of the agricultural organisations in Larissa. "The government authorities must act," he continued, "because I am afraid that the floods will be an opportunity for some to profit at the expense of the consumers."

Themis Apostolakis and his father attempted to kickstart their tractor in the village of Koskinas. The cotton and grain crops from this year have been lost, they informed the BBC. Themis' future seemed bleak.

Everything will change. Our way of life has drastically changed. The only thing we could possibly preserve is ourselves. The fact that my family and I are alive makes me glad. Our puppy was lost. We are heartbroken. However, I have my mum and father.

He stated he couldn't predict his future in farming when we asked if he had one.

It will all be ruined. Oil and other contaminants have contaminated the water in the present.

"I'm not sure what we can rebuild once more. I'm not sure.