PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis visited the Lasithi Plateau two days after severe weather struck the region to inspect flooded crops and demand urgent government aid.
During his inspection of the submerged plain, Androulakis urged Greek officials to set aside bureaucracy and deliver immediate assistance to residents, crop growers, and livestock farmers.
Accompanied by local lawmakers, Androulakis began his visit at the local town hall, where he met with Lasithi Plateau Mayor Giorgos Athanasakis to assess the full scale of the storm damage.
Athanasakis told the delegation that local farmers urgently required support after losing their entire output, adding that floodwaters caused extensive damage to agricultural road networks. Deputy mayors attending the meeting described the situation as total destruction.
PASOK, officially known as the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, is one of Greece's main political parties, led by Androulakis since 2021. Following the town hall meeting, Androulakis criticized ELGA, the Hellenic Agricultural Insurance Organization, describing its current regulatory framework as outdated.
Androulakis said his presence aimed to highlight the problem, inform Greek society, and exert pressure on the government to provide immediate solutions.
Agricultural damage and economic losses
Androulakis subsequently met with local organizations and producers to review the full economic impact of the disaster. The president of the Agricultural Association of Lasithi Plateau reported that floodwaters submerged 6,000 stremmata of potato crops, destroying approximately 25,000 tonnes of produce.
The agricultural association president added that the storm also submerged 3,000 stremmata of vegetable crops, resulting in the loss of 12,000 tonnes of produce. Financial losses for the potato crop alone were estimated at 15 million euros.
The Lasithi Plateau is a high plain located in eastern Crete, Greece, situated in the Dikti mountain range. Known for its rich agricultural production, the region relies heavily on potato and vegetable farming, leaving local growers vulnerable to seasonal storm damage.
Local producers and agency representatives presented Androulakis with demands focusing on immediate financial compensation and infrastructure development. The PASOK leader then conducted a field inspection of the plain to observe flooded fields firsthand.
Demographic challenges and recovery plan
Speaking after his field inspection, Androulakis expressed support for residents in the Lasithi Plateau and the neighboring Municipality of Mylopotamos. He urged the government to implement a comprehensive emergency response plan to address the crisis.
According to Androulakis, the government plan must include immediate damage assessments, rapid compensation payouts for residents and farmers, a freeze on public debt obligations, and direct funding for municipal and regional authorities to rebuild infrastructure.
He also emphasized that the state must introduce a specific measure to finance the replacement of lost livestock.
Highlighting broader social concerns, Androulakis warned that state authorities must account for severe existing demographic problems in the Municipality of Lasithi Plateau. He noted that very few young people remain in the area to start families and continue the agricultural work of previous generations.
State intervention must occur without delay so that the latest natural disaster does not worsen ongoing demographic decline across the rural region, Androulakis added.
Water management and climate resilience
The PASOK president stressed that the ultimate severity of the impact on local producers will depend on the speed of compensation distribution and the implementation of long-term water management solutions.
Androulakis warned against treating extreme storm events as rare occurrences, referencing catastrophic flooding in Thessaly, a major agricultural region in central Greece that suffered extensive flood damage during Storm Daniel in September 2023.
He concluded that relying on assumptions that such disasters occur only once every 100 years is dangerous. Instead, he called for comprehensive studies to establish sustainable, resilient water management based on empirical climate change data.
