French Woman Missing in Greece Sent Distress Text

A photograph shows the Parthenon Temple at the top of the Acropolis hill in Athens on November 28, 2023. (AFP)
A photograph shows the Parthenon Temple at the top of the Acropolis hill in Athens on November 28, 2023. (AFP)
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French Woman Missing in Greece Sent Distress Text

A photograph shows the Parthenon Temple at the top of the Acropolis hill in Athens on November 28, 2023. (AFP)
A photograph shows the Parthenon Temple at the top of the Acropolis hill in Athens on November 28, 2023. (AFP)

A 73-year-old French woman missing on the Greek island of Sikinos since Friday sent a distress message to her hotel before disappearing, the owner said.

A search is under way for the woman, who has not been named by authorities. She is one of three tourists missing in Greece, and five have died this month in unseasonably hot weather.

Ilias Gavanas, who owns the guest house where the woman was staying, told Reuters he last heard from her on Friday when he reached her by phone around 8:30 a.m. after missing a call from her at 5:50 a.m.

He said the woman had sent him a selfie and a message saying: "I am fall". He replied in French and English asking for her location and telling her to call the European emergency number 112, and alerted police and municipal authorities.

Temperatures soared above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) across Greece earlier this month.

Hiking is popular with tourists on Sikinos, a largely barren and sparsely populated island in the southern Aegean Sea, Gavanas said.

"We warn them not to go out in the heat, to always inform us where they are, to not wander off alone," he said. "It was 40 degrees."

The tourism ministry said it "remained vigilant" and was working with other ministries to ensure travellers were being kept informed.

A second French woman is missing on Sikinos, and authorities believe the two missing women went hiking together although they were not staying at the same hotel, police said.

A search is under way on the island of Amorgos for an American man missing since June 11.

The five tourists who have died included British TV presenter Michael Mosley, whose body was found on the island of Symi. A 55-year-old American died on the Ionian island of Mathraki, a 74-year-old Dutch tourist died on the island of Samos and two hikers died on Crete.



Weekend of Broiling Heat Expected in US West, Southeast

A man floats on the San Francisco Bay off the coast of Alameda Beach to cool off during a heat wave as temperatures reach over 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.7 degrees Celsius) in Alameda, California, US, July 3, 2024. REUTERS/Emily Steinberger/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A man floats on the San Francisco Bay off the coast of Alameda Beach to cool off during a heat wave as temperatures reach over 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.7 degrees Celsius) in Alameda, California, US, July 3, 2024. REUTERS/Emily Steinberger/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Weekend of Broiling Heat Expected in US West, Southeast

A man floats on the San Francisco Bay off the coast of Alameda Beach to cool off during a heat wave as temperatures reach over 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.7 degrees Celsius) in Alameda, California, US, July 3, 2024. REUTERS/Emily Steinberger/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A man floats on the San Francisco Bay off the coast of Alameda Beach to cool off during a heat wave as temperatures reach over 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.7 degrees Celsius) in Alameda, California, US, July 3, 2024. REUTERS/Emily Steinberger/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Dangerously hot conditions will dominate over the rest of the long Independence Day weekend in much of the US West Coast, Southeast and Middle Atlantic seaboard, forecasters said on Friday, as California firefighters battled one of the first big wildfires of the season.

Around 108 million Americans will spend the remainder of the weekend under excessive heat advisories, with record-breaking temperatures forecast for many spots in California, southern Oregon and the Southwest, the National Weather Service said.

The West Coast will hover 15 to 30 degrees above average, reaching 110 Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) on Friday.

"Expect only subtle changes to our daily high temperatures through the weekend," the National Weather Service in Flagstaff, Arizona, said on X.

"Where did you go, monsoon? Hurry back," it said, referring to a recent bout of torrential rain in the area, which is usually bone-dry this time of year.

Some of the hottest spots will include Phoenix where it will be 115 F (46 C), Washington D.C. where it is expected to climb to 100 F (38 C), and Palm Springs, California, where it will reach 119 F (48 C). That is almost three times as hot as it will be in Yellowstone National Park in Montana, where the forecast was for temperatures to dip to 37 F on Friday night.

The weather service urged people to stay hydrated, out of the sunlight, and in buildings with sufficient air-conditioning.

Stifling heat will also prevail from Mississippi to Florida, and north along the Eastern Seaboard to Pennsylvania, where temperatures will reach past 100 F (37 C).

The National Weather Service warned that hot overnight conditions across the Mississippi Valley could lead to "a dangerous situation for those without access to adequate cooling".

Hot, dry and windy conditions in the West were forcing fire officials and forecasters to issue warnings about the risk of wildfires.

According to Reuters, the so-called Thompson Fire in Butte County, California, about 65 miles (105 km) north of Sacramento, has scorched almost 6 square miles (16 square kilometers) of scrub and brush since it started on Tuesday.

As of Friday morning, the fire was 46% contained after forcing some 13,000 households to evacuate.

Most evacuation orders were lifted early on Friday morning as firefighters made progress controlling the blaze, which had damaged or destroyed about 30 structures, fire officials said.

Southern Texas faces a different sort of threat early next week when remnants of Hurricane Beryl are expected to dump heavy rains on the region.

Beryl, the first hurricane of the season, made landfall in Mexico on Friday after killing 11 people as it carved a path of destruction across the Caribbean earlier this week.