Hell on Earth - 11th August 2021

Scores of islanders have had to desert their island home in Greece due to raging fires and sweltering heat on Evia.

Greece and neighbouring Turkey have been battling devastating fires for nearly two weeks, and while rain brought respite to Turkey, Greece continues to suffer the searing heat.

The blazes have ravaged homes and turned hectares upon hectares into cinders on Evia, the second largest Greek island. One of the locals battling the flames, Konstantinos Triantaflyllou, gave vent to his feelings.

Konstantinos Triantafyllou: "They burned us, they burned a paradise. They have no shame!"

Although international aid is now pouring in and firefighting planes from the mainland are bolstering local efforts to extinguish the fires, islanders are disgruntled with the government's shortcomings.

Giannis Selimis: "We are in a tragic situation. We are left in God's hands. We do whatever we can with our own means. The state is absent."

Given Evia's rocky terrain covered in dense pine forests, the flames are thriving and the efforts of firefighters have proven futile.

Evacuees have been boarding vessels docked at what were once popular tourist waterfronts – among them the elderly, who've required help to traverse the sandy shores and be ferried safely to the mainland.

Pensioner Louisa expresses the sentiments of many who dread what they'll find once the flames have been doused.

Louisa: "People lived off the forests, the crops, the olives, raising livestock and tourism. None of that is left now."