Farewell my friends

Last update: 12 August 2018

We are trying to get our lives back to normal after the wildfires in Mati, Greece. We lost close friends and our hope but life has a way to make you find the power to wake up and continue… Farewell, my friends… we will do our best to keep you alive in our hearts.

I want to publicly thank Google Developers for helping many of us to locate most of our family members and friends. This Google app is the proof that technology can be ethical and innovative. In case of emergency use their app: https://google.org/personfinder/

View this post on Instagram

Pray for Greece …. Regrann from @nataliamichael – Not much to say… #prayforgreece 🙏🇬🇷 – #regrann

A post shared by IDEADECO | ARETI VASSOU | SEO (@aretivassou) on Jul 24, 2018 at 11:20am PDT

I don’t want to forget

So many individuals and companies from the private sector offered to help and support the survivors from the Greece Wildfires in 2018. Thousands of volunteers throw themselves into the flames in order to rescue humans and suffering animals. Citizens of Greece and from all over the world proved that under dreadful circumstances people unite and beat death.

I don’t want to forget that. But also I don’t want to forget the names and the stories of the deceased.  I hope and wish that this painful event will teach us how to react before, during and after a wildfire. Because fires will always occur when we least expect them. Unfortunately.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bln9s8pnTjq/?taken-by=aretivassou

Useful information and links

Google was among the first that gathered all the useful information and links in one place, in order to help people during the wildfires in Greece.

Fire-related resources in Greece:

• Call 199 – reporting fires & declaration of missing persons
• Call 108 – helpline
• Visit the official website of Fire service www.fireservice.gr/el

Updates from Hellenic Police (Tweets are in Greek)

• Visit the official Hellenic Police twitter account twitter.com/hellenicpolice

Updates from Civil Protection GR (Tweets are in Greek)

• Visit the official twitter account of Civil Protection twitter.com/GSCP_GR

Google Person Finder

• Find or share missing person information for the fires 

Wildfires Greece July 2018

An ongoing series of wildfires in Greece began in the coastal areas of Attica in July 2018. As of 27 July, 88 people were confirmed dead. At least 164 adults and 23 children were taken to hospital with injuries, including 11 adults in a serious condition. [Still under investigation – updates will follow][source: wikipedia]

The fires were the second-deadliest wildfire event worldwide in the 21st century, after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Australia that killed 173, and followed by the 2007 Greek forest fires, that killed 84. [source: www.efsyn.gr]

Over 700 residents have been evacuated or rescued, mainly from the seaside village of Mati, where rescuers found 28 corpses trapped just meters away from the sea,  apparently hugging each other as they died. Boats also recovered corpses from the water and rescued hundreds of people from beaches and the sea. Ten people drowned when the boat rescuing them from a hotel in Mati capsized [source: wikipedia]

Hashtag #prayforgreece

The hashtag #prayforgreece has drawn the attention of thousands of people who wish to express their sympathy and support to Greece at Instagram, Twitter, and Google.

The names of the people lost in wildfires

Greece is going through an unspeakable tragedy.  A three-day period of national mourning put the country into the deepest silence. All flags atop the Acropolis and the Greek parliament flew at half mast. Many citizens of the country had black or deep blue ribbons on their windows. The European flags also flew at half-mast at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels,  to honor the memory of the victims.

The death toll from Greece’s deadliest fire disaster rose to 94 on Saturday 11.08.2018 after one more victim died in hospital, the fire brigade said. Reports said the latest casualty was a 57-year-old woman. More than 30 people are still hospitalized after the July 23 wildfire in the coastal resort of Mati near Athens.

Four senior officials including the minister responsible for the police and the heads of the police and fire brigade have been removed from their posts.

We are waiting for the official list with names to be published so we can share it and honor them. (The list with the names is in Greek)

1. Βασίλειος Κατσαργύρης –
2. Φίλιππος Φιλιππόπουλος, 72
3. Σοφία Φιλιπποπούλου, 61
4. Σοφία Φιλιπποπούλου, 9
5. Βασιλική Φιλιπποπούλου, 9
6. Βασιλική Παλιουρα, 73
7. Παναγιώτα Γαζεπίδου-Γαζέπη, 54
8. Κασσιανή Σπανού, 40
9. Παναγιώτης Κοκκινίδης, 39
10. Γεώργιος Κοκκινίδης, 8
11. Δημήτριος Κοκκινίδης, 5
12. Πιπίνα Κοκκινίδου, 67
13. Ζωή Αθανασοπούλου, 86
14. Χρυσή Σπηλιώτη, 62
15. Καλλιόπη Σιαπκαρα, 35
16. Δημήτριος Τουρναβίτης, 54
17. Βασιλεία Μαυρίδου, 59
18. Στυλιανή Χριστοφίδου, 59
19. Αιμιλία Ανδρουλιδάκη, 73
20. Κατίνα Νιτσοτόλη, 66
21. Χαράλαμπος Δρουβής, 73
22. Μάρκος Κατσουλάκης, 53
23. Αικατερίνη Αβραμίδου, 47
24. Πολύδωρος-Πάρις Κατσουλάκης, 20
25. Γαρυφαλλιά Καραγκιαούρη, 66
26. Λεωνίδας Πλυμάκης, 75
27. Δημήτριος Σκαραμαγκάς, 86
28. Ζαμπέτα Σκαραμαγκά, 77
29. Μιχαήλ Λαμπρίδης, 73
30. Παναγιώτης Χαμηλοθώρης, 29
31. Αθηνά Κάραλη, 48
32. Αγγελική Γιαννοπούλου, 88
33. Δημήτριος-Αριστείδης Αλεξόπουλος, 13
34. Παρασκευή Καλεγιαννάκου, 74
35. Νικόλαος Καλεγιαννάκος, 85
36. Ανδρέας Φύτρος, 11
37. Γρηγόριος Φύτρος, 54
38. Ευδοκία Φύτρου, 13
39. Παύλος Τσάρμπος, 60
40. Ελένη Σιδέρη, 93
41. Μαρία Παγωμενου, 73
42. Σπυρίδων Κάκαρης, 40
43. Μαρία Καλαμπανίδα, 85
44. Μαριάνθη Καλαμπανίδα –
45. Παναγιώτης Δόξας, 20
46. Αργύριος Δόξας, 60
47. Μαρία Κλαδιου, 81
48. Ιωάννης Κλάδιος, 84
49. Ιάκωβος Κλάδιος, 47
50. Σοφία Γιαννακοπούλου, 86
51. Μπεάτα-Τερέζα Κορζενιόφσκα, 38
52. Κάσπερ-Νικολάι Κορζενιόφσκι, 9
53. Ιωάννης Καλεγιαννάκος, 53
54. Μαριάνθη Κωνσταντάκη, 85
55. Βίκτωρας Μίχας, 25
56. Νικολέτα Ντούτσα (Γαβάκη), 46
57. Αγγελική Μασχα, 85
58. Νικόλαος Κόσσορας, 68
59. Ευαγγελία Σιαπερα, 77
60. Άγγελος Μάσχας, 88
61. Διονύσιος Πεταλάς, 89
62. Ευαγγελή Πεταλά, 75
63. Χρήστος Κούκλας, 77
64. Μαρία Κούκλα-Πολυχρονίδου, 71
65. Σπυρίδων Παπαποστόλου, 83
66. Βασιλεία Κωστοπούλου, 51
67. Ευθύμιος Βονικόπουλος, 55
68. Θέκλα Δεσύπρη, 61
69. Μοίρα Πατελάρου, 87
70. Νικόλαος Χατζόπουλος, 84
71. Ελένη Σαριέβα, 56
72. Ντιρκ Μπόντε, 64
73. Ευπραξία Χερουβείμ, 74
74. Μαρία-Ηλιάνα Χερουβείμ, 5
75. Ευπραξία-Μελίνα Χερουβείμ, 5
76. Βασιλική Χερουβείμ, 53
77. Δημητρίου (αβάπτιστο), 6 μηνών
78. Ασπασία Μωραΐτη, 91
79. Ευγενία Πολίτου, 77
80. Ιωάννης Παπαϊωάννου, 61
81. Μπράιαν Ο’Κάλαχαν-Γουέστροπ, 46
82. Μιχαήλ Πολυπόρτης, 66
83. Κωστούλα Ορφανού, 82
84. Μαρία Γαλανή, 41
85. Βίκτωρ Τσέκος, 49
86. Μαργαρίτα Διονυσιώτη, 35
87. Μαρία Μόσχου, 56
88. Ευστράτιος Ζαφειρίου, 85
89. Σμαράγδα Κανδαλέπα, 95
90. Κωνσταντίνος Κέρτσος, 83
91. Θεοδώρα Τσαούση, 78
92. Χωρίς ταυτοποίηση
93. Χωρίς ταυτοποίηση

Supporters

Greece Wildfire Relief Campaign by GoFundMe.

Let’s support people in Greece.

WHERE WILL THE FUNDS GO?

HALC works with registered, vetted nonprofits and other organizations that have a clear record of transparency, accountability and effectiveness. We are in the process of continuing our vetting but at the moment, 100% of funds raised will be directly distributed to the following vetted approved organizations:

* Hellenic Red Cross (Ελληνικός Ερυθρός Σταυρός)
This organization is providing direct, urgent emergency relief to those affected, such as first aid, shelter, and more.

* SOS Children’s Village Greece (Παιδικά Χωριά SOS Ελλάδος)
This organization provides support services to children. At least 23 children have been injured by the fires, some in critical condition. We will distribute funds directly for any medical care, feeding of displaced families, the housing of displaced families or care for orphaned children.

How to help the survivors

CNN has gathered in this article the Nonprofit organizations and crowdsourcing campaigns which are helping those affected and can be supported through the given links. Read more at: Help the victims of the Greece wildfires

Create Your Recovery Disaster Plan

Try to keep calm and stay in low key if you want to recover as soon as possible. The more planning you do ahead the more ready you gonna be and you will perform better under the stress of the moment.

If you don’t already have a disaster recovery plan in place, you can create one starting right now. There is no better time like now! What are you waiting for? Read our detailed article about Recovery Disaster Plan.