Local governor admits to have ordered opening of river embankment to flood Palamas village

Deputy regional governor of Karditsa admitted that he ordered the opening of the  embankment of the Kalentzis river, the night that storm Daniel was sweeping across Central Greece, an opening that led to the flooding and destruction of Palamas village.

The admission confirms locals’ denouncements from the very first morning and dismisses government’s claims that “such a thing never happened.”

Locals had claimed that Palamas village was flooded to save the city of Karditsa from a similar disaster.

“That evening, the mayor Palamas, Mr. Sakellariou called me, after all, that “Koskinas is flooding and we have to cut the embankment” Deputy Regional Governor Kostas Noussios told Alpha TV on Thursday.

However, a day earlier, also on Alpha TV he had denied he had given such a permission to open the dike, stressing that he did not know who did it.

More on Palamas on KTG’s port here.

On Thursday, Noussios said that he himself gave his approval, as he trusted the mayor Sakellariou who has been mayor for many ten years and had a lot of experience, he knew where the rivers go and where they ended up. We tried it on “Ianos” and “Diomedis”, when he had told him to make an incision on the mound, he added.

It should be recalled that an earth-mover had previously told media that he  was ordered to cut into the embankment.

Nousios complained that in the four years he has been in the region “unfortunately there is no flood prevention plan, everything works with practical experience and what had happened in the past.”

Thursday evening, the mayor of Palamas told Open TV that it was not that embankment of Kaletzi river the flooded the village.

PS throwing responsibility from one to another is the national sports in Greece.