Wildfires Rhodes - family stranded

[strawthatbrokethecamelsback]

posting here for traffic

my brother & family are stranded in Rhodes. They have been evacuated from Mitsis Rodos Village Beach Hotel & Spa. They have nothing but the clothes on their back. All passports & documents are in the hotel.

just a awful situation for absolutely everyone, locals especially.

we have no information as to whether the hotel has been destroyed or not. If it has we’ll need to think about getting them to the embassy for emergency passports.

The insurance company are on it and are trying to help but we’re having trouble just getting through to them on the phone.

I know this is a massive long shot but does anyone have any local knowledge or any updates of what the situation is?

From friends on the ground. These hotels were damaged:

Princess Adrianna
Mayia Resort
Lindos Impetial.

I will keep @strawthatbrokethecamelsback apprised of any more info I can get.

@purpleros

Makes it easier to get emergency travel authorisation. In this situations they can be issued with a document quickly to get them through arrivals in the U.K. there's hundreds in this situation apparently

Year 11 offered to do mine years ago! So pleased that the OP's family, and hopefully everyone else caught up in this, will be able to return home safely, dealing with the things like keys will be a chore but those left behind seeing their livelihoods destroyed face a far bleaker time.

They've set up a station at the airport for people with no documents to fly home.

OP just seen this on the UK in Greece Twitter (worth following)

👉"Greek 🇬🇷 Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel will set up a Help Desk at the #Rhodes International Airport from 5pm today to facilitate, in cooperation with the relevant Embassies, the timely departure of visitors who have lost their travel documents.

Also
👉British nationals in Rhodes impacted by the wildfire can call +4420 7008 5000 for consular assistance.
thaf sounds like a generic london number though. Hopefully they have extra bods on hand to answer calls.

I have a facebook friend in Rhodes who apparently had to flee last night in the bikini she was wearing.

She wasn't allowed back to their rooms and from what I can see of the video she posted, the fire spread rapidly into the hotel due to a change in wind direction.

If he has his phone, he may have taken photos of their passports - hopefully that will speed up getting on flights back.
Hope they’re ok @strawthatbrokethecamelsback

There is really no point worrying or speculating when you are so far away @strawthatbrokethecamelsback

The authorities will take control and people will get home.
It's not like this is a war zone - it's a civilized country.

Yes, it's horrible for the people involved, but there will be support and they will come home.

Very difficult if you’ve never been in the situation before but we’ve been on Rhodes during previous wildfires and always kept our passports with us . We had family who used to live there and that’s what they did as you were never sure when you went out that you would be able to get back . That might be useful information for any travellers in future .

It must be so frightening and devastating for visitors and natives alike.

I was just thinking, when you book a flight, doesn't the airline capture passport details on the boarding pass? Maybe it is just certain airlines, but many EU countries insist on API (advanced passenger information). Just a thought and I may be totally wrong since things may have changed over time.

I have an EU passport. It offers an optional Passport Card which is credit card sized and can be used all over the EU (for EU passport holders only though). You must also have the traditional passport to get one. I think UK should consider introducing something like this as the cards are much more portable, although the haunting theme of "ID cards" might preclude that.

Anyway, I always take my phone, debit cards, and passport card with me everywhere (along with the essential lip balm!) in a small crossbody bag. I always feel if I go out on my own somewhere abroad and fall dead or alive in the street, at least I can be identified! I also bring the normal passport and leave it in the accommodation. Belt and braces!

I really hope the situation improves for everyone, and hopefully there will be no casualties. All the best to everyone in the middle of this.

Just reading a local news story about a family stranded who flew out... yesterday! Why were people still going especially with their kids in tow?! And making the situation worse for everybody who was already there.

I lost / stolen my passport on holiday once.

It was a LOT easier to get an Emergency Passport (took way less time) because I had a photograph because they could locate my details on the system and verify me much quicker. But crucially I DID still have my driving licence.

If I hadn't had the photo it would have taken several more days to verify my details and get an Emergency Passport. Obviously you can't travel on a copy of your passport, but its a massive help. Nor is an Emergency Passport isn't a replacement document. It only allows for transport homeward once.

There is no way I would go abroad without having a copy that I could access in Emergency if I needed it now.

Its not fun to get stuck without a passport. You have to travel to an Embassy (which if you are in a place miles away from the embassy with no cash is a problem as the Embassy won't necessarily help you with funds to get to the Embassy and could be hundreds of miles away), you have to book an appointment at the Embassy (which is harder if you have no other documentation either to verify your identity) and you then have to wait for the replacement documents to come through which may or may not be that day. I remember looking at how complicated it got without other ID and being so grateful I still had my driving licence and access to a copy of my passport. It would likely have taken me a week or more otherwise sort it out. In the end it took me two days because it was a bloody bank holiday in the country I was in and I couldn't get a sooner appointment.

By the sound of it, it looks like they are on the case helping people at the airport rather than requiring travel to the Embassy because so many people are affected and thats good. I should imagine people will get back relatively quickly, as a result, but it could take a good few days for some people and I think thats what the expectation should be for anyone stuck without a passport.

More worried about loosing their money than their lives

Such a worrying situation for all concerned, my heart goes out to everyone involved, hope your brother gets home soon.

The advantage is that you can quickly give comprehensive information to the British diplomatic/consular staff who will be processing the emergency ravel documents for you.

Also, remember that not all future emergencies will be like this one, and that if you are not a package holiday traveller, there might be no tour provider or anything else whatsoever to show that you are indeed British. Or that, if you are not British, you have the right to enter Britain (photocopy of relevant visa or whatever)

There are of course no good as actual boarding documents, but having comprehensive information with you (in your phone, or available to be emailed to you by a trusted person back home) will make other aspects of the admin work much more smoothly.

They probably believed if the flight was going, it must be OK after all, or OK for their specific destination in the wider region. Because there are so many cancellations, those that were cancelled must be OK

Don’t bother then @Simonjt but for the nanosecond it takes to photograph your passport, why not? Personally in this situation, I’d rather feel a tiny bit more in control than be utterly clueless.

If they didn't go they would lose their money.

With the tour operator saying they could go they will have assumed there wasn't a safety risk. Obviously things have changed in the last couple of hours.

So many judgemental comments on here. from The amount of people, including officials, who get caught short with wildfires I guess situations can change very rapidly. It doesn’t mean people are somehow at fault. Rhodes is quite a large island, if you were at home you wouldn’t necessarily be overly concerned about a fire breaking out tens of miles away from you. I feel really sorry for the tourists and especially the residents but Greece is a developed country with lots of neighbours able to provide assistance, issues with passports etc will be sorted out

Hopefully no one but just in case anyone reading this thinks it's not necessary this is a timely reminder

This has made me think.

My NDN has a spare key to my house, in case of emergencies, and I have a spare car key in the house.

There's also a spare house key hidden somewhere that could be accessed from outside of the house, if I gave you instructions on how to find it. I hid it there when I had a new door fitted, and it locks on being shut. It's a high security lock, so would be very hard to open otherwise, and would cost shedloads to replace if it had to be drilled out, so I figured it was sensible, as I am absent minded and because the front door slams shut if it's windy and the back door is open.

I really feel for the poor people who've lost their homes and the tourists who've had to evacuate, it must be so distressing.

Your brother shouldn't worry about the passports or beat himself up. The British Consultate will be setting up a system to help UK nationals who have lost their documents in the fires

Last year there was a wildfire less than a mile from my house (in England!) Shops stayed open, I believe the airport remained operational, schools were open...

People were being told it was safe to travel. Of course they travelled.

Should the tour operators acted earlier? Maybe. Should there have been travel warnings? Maybe. Blaming people for following guidance is wrong.

What a good, clear update from Jet2.