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Meropi Kyriacou Honored as TNH Educator of the Year
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
ATHENS – Four months after deadly floods also submerged much of central Greece’s farmland and food production area, villages, residents and agriculture are trying to come back from the damage.
The devastation also further spiked food prices as it destroyed croplands and trees and brought worries that some of the land could be unusable for years and further limit growing ability.
In a review, EuroNews noted how those affected are still struggling despite state aid aimed at offsetting losses and trying to restore the lands, after complaints that flood management failures made the damages worse.
Most of the losses were in Thessaly in storms that also took 17 lives and came after deadly summer fires also destroyed olive trees and lands across the country.
Many residents, faced with significant property damage, have chosen to abandon their homes, the site said, unable to rebuild the property or their lives in the area.
Yannis Koukas, a resident of Vlohos and former local community president, said he works every day trying to restore what’s left of his dwelling and hopes to come back and begin again.
“We are seizing the opportunity presented by favorable weather conditions to clean and salvage our homes and possessions. While we dry our meager belongings, we earnestly anticipate a return to our village after the summer,” he said. The village school is beyond repair.
Thousands of acres were covered in waters and hundreds of farm animals were killed, taking away the livelihood of many, such as livestock breeders Vassilis and Dimitra Xanti, the site noted.
“We’ve lost 80 sheep, and our fields yield no produce due to the water’s destruction. Despite these challenges, we won’t surrender; we will fight for our lives and our children’s future,” she said.
There’s also grumbling that the amount of state assistance wasn’t enough to offset losses so severe it meant abandoning properties instead but area residents said they were grateful for an outpouring of private support.
That included the efforts of Evangelia Routa, President of the Cultural Association of the village of Metamorfosi, which collected and distributed food, clothes and even toys to children.
