Once again was the area of Ileia! Why..?

My heart was broken when I heard the news and bled at the sight of the water, which became savage and drowned us. The Ancient Olympia, our pride, was once again wounded. Our own city, Pyrgos, sank. First it was the earthquakes, which opened up the earth and made hundreds of people suffer. The image of our house, which was ruined during the night while we were sleeping by the fury of the earthquake along with the heavy rain, remains vivid in my mind. At that time we were kids, we thought it was a dream, a nightmare. We were looking for each other and finally all together we perched on our mother. And she, trembling, was embracing us tightly in order to warm us up and to protect us. I still cannot help wondering, how we, three children, managed to snuggle into the arms of our frail mother. We were saved; our house was reconstructed and got cracked by another powerful earthquake, until it was destructed years after by an even bigger earthquake.

Then it was the fires. No one had ever experienced such a tragedy. The people and their belongings were burnt to cinders. Those who were saved gritted their teeth and put on a spurt. And when we thought this misfortune was reaching to an end, the floods made their appearance. I can still hear my brother’s voice. “The lower floor has flooded, but don’t worry, we made it. We are all well “. “ What about the other relatives? Will they be fine? “, I asked him. “There was a landslide in the mountains, in our aunt’s village. A bulk of earth fell on her house. Fortunately they are all safe. Our neighborhood has turned into a lake. Houses were covered with water and we were trying to pull the people out from their houses by using boats. We hold tight. We’ve already gone through so many trouble, we will manage somehow.

” Whatever I say about this new calamity, would not be enough. As if it weren’t enough peoples’ poverty, the bitter cold, now they will have to cope with the floods as well. Everybody let’s turn our thoughts to those who have been suffering for so long and most of all the leadership of this place- whatever this may be -.There hasn’t been any kind of prevention. However, the responsibilities appear to be many. Let’s do at least something essential now, in order to overcome the huge problems that have arisen.

All the beasts of nature may ruthlessly and furiously beat the area of Ileia, but they won’t manage to bend it. Ileia’s people are brave and do know how to win such battles.

Aggeliki