State of emergency declared on Greek holiday isles

A state of emergency has been declared by the Greek interior ministry on the Cyclades islands due to water shortages, drought and extremely high temperatures.

The declaration is mostly considered a bureaucratic procedure helping to speed up work on water supplies to the area.

Holiday destinations like Mykonos and Santorini are among those areas affected. The mayor of the island of Kimolos said that his island was without water and was unlikely to get any in the near future.

“We need help. There has been no water on the island since yesterday,” Mayor Theodoros Maganiotis told state TV.

The drought on the islands has been going on for over a year, with citizens and tourists complaining of water shortages for some time now. But last week’s heatwave made the situation worse when temperatures climbed to 46 degrees Celsius.

In Athens the situation is also bad as reserves of water have dropped by almost a quarter according to the city’s water company. Two people have already died from the heat.

“The region is declared today in a state of emergency so as to cut through red tape and speed up public works needed to improve the water supply system,” said an interior ministry official who declined to be named.