
Greek authorities order work breaks as temperatures soar past 40C
The Labour Ministry ordered the work stoppage, from midday to 5pm, for outdoor manual labour and food delivery services, primarily in central Greece and on several islands.
Employers were also asked to offer remote work options.
A tourist with an umbrella walks outside the Acropolis of Athens (Petros Giannakouris/AP)
No emergency measures were implemented in Athens, and the current hot spell — following sweltering temperatures across Europe — is not considered unusual.
Greek authorities say they are taking long-term steps to address the effects of climate change, including the deployment this summer of a record number of firefighters.

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Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Texas county deflects mounting questions over actions before deadly flood
As deaths from catastrophic Texas flooding surpassed 100 on Monday, local officials in one of the hardest-hit counties have still revealed little about what, if any, actions they took to safeguard residents, tourists and visitors in an area known as 'flash flood alley'. At a series of briefings since the flooding on July 4, Kerr County officials have deflected a series of pointed questions about preparations and warnings as forecasters warned of life-threatening conditions. The county in the scenic Texas Hill Country is home to several summer camps, including Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp that announced on Monday it lost at least 27 campers and counsellors. Leon Meier throws a tree branch during clean-up efforts after flooding in Centre Point, Texas (AP/Ashley Landis) 'Today's not the day and now's not the time to discuss the warnings, who got them, who didn't got them. Right now, I'm only worried about public safety,' Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said on Monday during an emergency session of the county commissioners court. Dalton Rice, the city manager of Kerrville, said on Monday that authorities were reluctant to 'cry wolf' and order evacuations, adding that rainfall 'significantly' exceeded the projected amounts. He said officials had little time to react in the middle of the night, adding that qualified first responders were being 'swept away' driving through the initial rainfall. 'This rose very quickly in a very short amount of time,' Mr Rice said. In the 48 hours before the floods, the potential for heavy rains put precautions in motion as the state activated an emergency response plan and moved resources into the central Texas area. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at 1.14 am on Friday to mobile phones and weather radios, more than three hours before the first reports of flooding at low-water crossings in Kerr County at 4.35 am. The warning was updated at 4.03 am to a flash-flood emergency. The warning included Hunt, the small town that is home to Camp Mystic. Girls who were rescued from the camp have said they were woken up after midnight by strong storms that knocked out power. Bright flashes from lightning strikes showed the river rising rapidly. Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers load a recovered body into the back of a vehicle near the Guadalupe River (AP/Eli Hartman) It was not immediately clear what kind of evacuation plans Camp Mystic might have had. Local officials have known for decades that flooding posed a serious risk to life and property in the region, and a county government report last year warned the threat was getting worse. Kerr County's hazard mitigation action plan reported at least 106 'flood occurrences' dating back to 1960. Local officials determined that another flood was likely in the next year and that 'future worst-case flood events' could be more severe than those of the past. The risk of a 500-year flood was 'not negligible' and could lead to downed power lines, stranded residents and buildings that were damaged 'or even completely washed away', the report warned. Climate change could make the river flooding more frequent, it noted. The region has known significant tragedy. A 1987 flood after a heavy rain prompted the evacuation of a youth camp in the town of Comfort. Officials ride a boat as they arrive to assist with a recovery effort at Camp Mystic (AP/Julio Cortez) A wall of water quickly swamped buses and vans. Ten teenagers died. Decades later, the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, which manages the river watershed, released a video to YouTube titled Be Flood Aware 2017. Viewed over 40,000 times online, the video outlines the history of the Guadalupe River, its history of tragic flooding and ways the public can remain safe when floodwaters rise. 'Terrain here is unique for flash flooding,' the video noted. It mentioned the dangers of a significant rainfall near the river's headwaters near Camp Mystic. The storm that hit last Friday dumped more than six inches on the area in three hours. The river rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes. The river authority has cited the need to develop a flood warning system in Kerr County as a top priority in its last three annual strategic plans. Kerr County commissioners considered several years ago a proposal for a flood warning system similar to sirens used for tornadoes in other parts of the country, including in nearby Comal County, which includes part of the Guadalupe River. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who was not on the commission at the time but attended meetings, said the warning system idea was shelved because residents 'reeled at the cost'.


Irish Examiner
8 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Girls camp grieves loss of 27 children and staff in Texas floods
Crews picked through mountains of debris and waded into swollen rivers in the search for victims of catastrophic flooding that killed nearly 90 people over the July Fourth weekend in Texas, including more than two dozen campers and counsellors from an all-girls Christian camp. With additional rain on the way, more flooding still threatened in saturated parts of the US state. Authorities said the death toll was sure to rise as crews looked for many people who were missing. Officials ride a boat as they arrive to assist with a recovery effort at Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas (Julio Cortez/AP) Operators of Camp Mystic, a century-old summer camp in the Texas Hill Country, said they lost 27 campers and counsellors, confirming their worst fears after a wall of water slammed into cabins built along the edge of the Guadalupe River. 'We have been in communication with local and state authorities who are tirelessly deploying extensive resources to search for our missing girls,' the camp said in a statement. Authorities later said that 10 girls and a counsellor from the camp remain missing. The raging flash floods — among the nation's worst in decades — slammed into riverside camps and homes before daybreak on Friday, pulling sleeping people out of their cabins, tents and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating tree trunks and automobiles. Some survivors were found clinging to trees. Piles of twisted trees sprinkled with mattresses, fridges, coolers and canoes now litter the riverbanks. Search-and-rescue teams used heavy equipment near Kerrville to remove large branches while volunteers covered in mud sorted through chunks of debris, piece by piece. In the Hill Country area, home to Camp Mystic and several other summer camps, searchers have found the bodies of 75 people, including 27 children, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. Fourteen other deaths were reported in Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson counties, according to local officials. Governor Greg Abbott said on Sunday that 41 people were unaccounted for across the state and more could be missing. Authorities vowed that one of the next steps will be investigating whether enough warnings were issued and why some camps did not evacuate or move to higher ground in areas long vulnerable to flooding. – Warnings came before the disaster On Thursday the National Weather Service advised of potential flooding and then sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours of Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare step that alerts the public to imminent danger. First responders carry out search and rescue operations near the Guadalupe River in Texas (Eli Hartman/AP) Authorities and elected officials have said they did not expect such an intense downpour, the equivalent of months of rain. Kerrville city manager Dalton Rice said one of the challenges is that many camps are in places with poor mobile phone service. US President Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration on Sunday for Kerr County and said he would likely visit on Friday. He said it was not the time to talk about whether he was still planning to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency and added that he does not plan to rehire any of the federal meteorologists who were fired this year as part of widespread government spending cuts. 'This was a thing that happened in seconds. Nobody expected it,' the president said. Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said recent cuts to Fema and the National Weather Service did not delay any warnings. 'There's a time to have political fights, there's a time to disagree. This is not that time,' Mr Cruz said. There will be a time to find out what could been done differently. My hope is in time we learn some lessons to implement the next time there is a flood.'


Irish Examiner
16 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Greek authorities order work breaks as temperatures soar past 40C
Authorities in Greece have imposed mandatory work breaks on Monday in parts of the country where temperatures are expected to exceed 40C, with the heatwave forecast to last until Thursday. The Labour Ministry ordered the work stoppage, from midday to 5pm, for outdoor manual labour and food delivery services, primarily in central Greece and on several islands. Employers were also asked to offer remote work options. A tourist with an umbrella walks outside the Acropolis of Athens (Petros Giannakouris/AP) No emergency measures were implemented in Athens, and the current hot spell — following sweltering temperatures across Europe — is not considered unusual. Greek authorities say they are taking long-term steps to address the effects of climate change, including the deployment this summer of a record number of firefighters.