Oh God

[ishtar79]

Ancient Olympia just burned to the ground.

*curls into a ball*

eta: After a whole DAY of conflicting reports, it seems that while the fire was in the grounds and burned a good portion of the woods, they managed to save the ancient site and museum. It's by no means the end of this, but it's a huge relief for me.

Comments

:( :(

[jollityfarm.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness, that's awful!

Re: :( :(

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

Beyond awful.

[teratologist.livejournal.com]

On the BBC website there are pictures of the fires from a NASA satellite - you can see them from space. What a nightmare!

I hope the people they've arrested are the right ones.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've seen that pic.

They arrested one man and two kids-but it's very obvious that it's a planned, large scale arson, with a lot of people involved.

People are still setting fires all over the country.

[mondegreen.livejournal.com]

*curls into a ball with you*

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

*cries*

[olympia-m.livejournal.com]

fuck... my brother called me to tell me and - *shivers*

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

I'm sort of numb-this just feels unreal, like I'll wake up any moment.

[olympia-m.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you mean.

for now, the site and the museum are safe (except for something that my brother didn't cath)

[strangelover.livejournal.com]

Fuck.

I have no words other than that right now.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there really are no words that work right now.

[strangelover.livejournal.com]

It's a fucking catastrophe already, though the reports seem to be all different. For once, I really hope the media are blowing it out of proportion.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

I really hope so, but the journalists from different channels seem to be saying similar things.

[ninamalfoy]

Oh no. Fuck, this is just horrible. I wish... oh man, this is so awful, and the worst is that there's human greed at the bottom of this, gah.

*shudders and prays for rain*

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

Yes, rain. Please.

[anjenue.livejournal.com]

Oh my god. *curls up with you*

[anjenue.livejournal.com]

Reuters (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26465920.htm&cid=0) says the firefighters stopped it in time. I take it that's wrong then?

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

There are conflicting reports, but most journalists there say they saw the flames go over the ancient site. Nobody seems to be able to confirm whether they saved the museum.

[nemesister.livejournal.com]

I just heard conflicting reports in one 5 min news show: "is saved" and "is burning downs right now". Wasn't on purpose from the show either. They also said seven arrests so far.
God, this is all so horrible.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

According to the latest, the consensus is that they managed to save most of Olympia at least. Thank God(s) for small favours.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

oh dear God, this is a world wide tragedy.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

It is. But it seems that at least according to recent reports, they managed to save most of the site of Olympia.

Right now I'm watching the news about people trapped in the fire. 62 dead so far.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

I cannot believe how fast the death toll is rising, people should have been evacuated days ago, there really should be a way to protect the population.
When we were in the line of fire in Southern California we had buses standing by to take us out, we weren't on them because the main fire station was across the street and they assured us that our area would remain safe (although we had no electricity and we were breathing a lot of ash for a full week).

[missambs.livejournal.com]

Oh god, that scared the shit out of me at first.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

I've been hearing conflicting conflicting reports all day. I'll have an ulcer before this is over.

[missambs.livejournal.com]

Oh god oh god I just googled what's going on. I feel sick. I have family... oh god, they're probably in the process of losing everything. They have an olive grove thing. Jesus Christ. I hope they're okay.

This is fucking horrible.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

Shit! I hope they're safe. The fires are still going.

[missambs.livejournal.com]

Me too. Gah! Stupid fucking arsonist pieces of fucking shit. ARGH. I'm... just... bah. Sometimes there just aren't enough curse words.

[go-back-chief.livejournal.com]

So... they managed to save it?

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

It seems so (the a portion of the woods on the site were burned). For now-all the surrounding areas still have wildfires going.

I'm afraid to go to sleep, I don't know what else might happen until I wake up.

[go-back-chief.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

*hugs back*

[artystone.livejournal.com]

This is just a horrible, horrible situation. Those poor people, I just can't imagine.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

I've been glued to the TV screen all day, and the images are just...I think it's the elderly people who watch their homes die that get to me the most. When you get to 89, you shouldn't have to deal with that shit (well, nobody should, but you know what I mean).

[liluv.livejournal.com]

I have been following this on the news here. It´s scary! They´ve shown picturs and it made me speechless.

I am glad Greece asked for help, but I am ashamed they needed to do it in the first place. Just read Germany sends three helicopers (!). Three. Geez. Thirty would sound a bit more helpful.

Glad to hear you are okay, but it must really be scary.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

The fires are still going. *cries*

All those forest, animals, and oh god, the poor *people*, getting burned alive. It's a nightmare.

And believe me, every single bit of help is appreciated.

[ackonrad.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about you and hoping you're safe ever since I got hold of yesterday's newspaper and seeing the overlarge title: ГЪРЦИЯ ГОРИ. The photos broke my heart.

Glad to hear ancient Olympia is at least as safe as possible in such a situation.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm perfectly safe. The center of Athens, were I live, is nothing but cement-nothing to burn.

Olympia is not completely undamaged (a historic forest on the large grounds was burned down), but at least they managed to save the museum and ancient site in the nick of time.

The fires are still raging. *cries*

[ackonrad.livejournal.com]

Hasn't the weather cooled down a little down there? It was unbearably hot here the last couple of days, but today it's pretty tolerable. It won't last long, though - tomorrow, we're returning to good old 35-40 degrees.

This weather is killing me.

You need rain. Yes. *prays to God to send you some*

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

I think it's a bit cooler-it's hard to say, there's still a fair bit of smoke over Athens. The winds feel stronger today though, and that can't be good.

[biffsbabe.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're okay physically. I know psychologically and emotionally it's a different story.
I'm watching Euronews right now and it's just horrible. Unfortunately it's seems to be turning political but hopefully they find the people responsible. The poor poor people who have lost their homes and loved ones. I hope neighboring countries can help out more because it seems the average small town doesn't have the resources to make progress against the fires.

I'm glad Olympia has been spared somewhat. I can't imagine losing something so precious but you get so torn because the lives of the people are more precious and 65 people or more have been lost.
I'm so sorry, I hope it rains. I hope you get more help.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

The politicians using this for their own gain *disgust* me, though I can't say I'm exactly surprised.

And yes, a decent relief infrastructure and sufficient firemen are lacking here. There's fires every single summer, but the bastard governments never give enough funds to the firemen.

I hope it rains too, though it's not looking lightly. Olympia being spared (mostly. A thousand year old forest on the same grounds was burned down) is definitely a relief, but all those forests, and people, and animals...I can't even think about it.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

Did you feel that earthquake? I understand it was pretty strong and could be felt in Athens. I hope everything is okay....

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

I didn't, actually, don't worry about it. Greece is earthquake region anyway, this one wasn't even one of the stronger ones.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_rp_zeal_/]

A much, much belated 'I hope things are getting better now'. Sometimes I really believe hell is on earth, and human beings can be irredeemably evil...
Hope things will get back on track sooner than later there. Please take care.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

In the words of Sartre, hell is other people. Never believed it more than I do right now.

And thank you. And things are sort of back on track, in the sense that while the the fires are still going in some fronts, our politicians are already playing the 'shift the blame' game. (But when the revolution comes, they'll be the first against the wall!)