Greece’s prime minister said on Thursday it would launch drones and install forest temperature sensors to improve preventive firefighting after criticism from climate activists over a devastating wildfire burning for almost two weeks.

A wildfire in the northeastern region of Evros, Europe’s deadliest blaze this summer, continued to burn for the 13th day on Thursday after killing at least 20 people, destroying homes and livelihoods and scorching lush forests.

Hundreds of firefighters continued to battle the massive Evros blaze on Thursday, after further overnight evacuations.

“Although we were better prepared than any other year, we faced an unprecedented combination of incidents,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament, citing a severe heatwave in July, Greece’s longest in years, then unusually high winds.

He said authorities had initiated steps to acquire more than 100 drones to monitor wildfires in real time.

There are also plans to install temperature sensors at archaeological sites and in high-risk forests, while some 500 forest scientists and 1,000 more firefighters will be hired soon, Mitsotakis said.

Environmentalists who advocate stronger international action to curb climate change have accused Greek authorities of spending more funds on extinguishing fires than on prevention.

Mitsotakis said tens of millions of euros were spent in wildfire prevention this year but that was still not enough.

In a post on social media platform X, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service said the Evros fire had ravaged at least 812.6 square kilometres (313.8 square miles), larger than New York City’s 778.2 square kilometres (300.5 square miles).

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said at least 30% of Greece’s protected Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest had been lost. Mitsotakis said he would ask European experts to assess the causes of the fire and suggest ways to help the forest grow back.

India is likely to receive an average amount of rainfall in September, the country’s top weather official said on Thursday, after the driest August in more than a century.

The monsoon, vital for the $3 trillion economy, delivers nearly 70% of the rain India needs to water farms and refill reservoirs and aquifers.

Monsoon rains were 36% below average in August and overall summer rains were 10% lower than normal since the season began on June 1, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director-general of the India Meteorological Department, told a virtual news conference.

“There have been weak monsoon activities on most days in August and rains were rather weak in most parts of the country,”

Mohapatra said. “Only some regions that were dry in June and July got better rains in August.”

Due to a weak start, monsoon rains were 9% below average in June, with rains rebounding to 13% above average in July. Summer rains again turned patchy in August.

Earlier this month Reuters reported that India was headed for its driest August in more than a century, partly due to the El Niño weather pattern.

El Nino, a warming of waters that usually stifles rainfall over the Indian subcontinent, has emerged in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years.

After recording the weakest August, overall monsoon rains were 10% below average between June and August. The driest August has also set India up for its lowest monsoon rains in eight years.

When El Nino hit monsoon rains in 2015, India faced widespread drought.

Patchy monsoon rains raise concern about the output of summer crops such as rice.

The erratic distribution of monsoon rains has led India, the world’s largest rice exporter, to limit rice shipments, impose a 40% tax on onion exports, permit duty-free imports of pulse, and could potentially result in New Delhi banning sugar exports.

China issued its highest typhoon warning on Thursday as Super Typhoon Saola, packing winds of more than 200 kph (125 mph), headed towards the southeastern coastline, threatening Hong Kong and other major manufacturing hubs in nearby Guangdong province.

Chinese forecasters issued a typhoon red warning at 6 a.m. (2200 GMT). China’s National Meteorological Centre said Saola, currently located about 315 km (183 miles) southeast of Guangdong province, will move northwest across the South China Sea at a speed of about 10 kph (6 mph), gradually approaching the coast of Guangdong, then slowly weaken in intensity.

Saola will make landfall along the coast somewhere from Huilai County in Guangdong to Hong Kong on the afternoon to the night of Sept. 1, the centre said, adding with its forecasted intensity, it could be among the five strongest typhoons to land in Guangdong since 1949.

Hong Kong’s government said the city would raise its strong wind signal to No.8 between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Friday, bringing the city to an effective standstill with most businesses and the stock exchange shut.

All schools will be closed on Friday, despite being the first day of term for many, the government said.

Crowds jostled at fresh food markets in the city’s downtown Wan Chai district on Thursday afternoon with many vegetables already sold out. Supermarkets saw long queues with people stocking up ahead of the storm.

Hong Kong’s Observatory said it expects heavy rain and violent winds while the city’s water level is expected to “rise appreciably” until Saturday with potential serious flooding.

Storm Idalia on Thursday inundated the Carolinas with torrential rains that threatened to trigger dangerous flash flooding, while Florida’s Gulf Coast began recovery efforts after the system tore through the region as a Category 3 hurricane.

The backend of the storm was producing heavy downpours of up to 10 inches (25 cm) in some spots along the region’s coastline on Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

The service predicted that rains would diminish during the afternoon, but warned of possible life-threatening flash flooding especially in low-lying areas and along rivers, through the evening. Storm surge watches were also in effect for several oceanfront communities as fierce winds remained in the forecast.

“Remaining efforts to protect property should be completed as soon as possible. Prepare for limited wind damage,” the service said.

As of midday, the center of the storm was moving eastward off the North Carolina Coast, about 85 miles (135 km) southeast of Cape Lookout as it carried winds of 65 mph (105 kph). Idalia was expected to curl eastward and out into the Atlantic on Thursday night.

The rough conditions in the Carolinas come a day after Idalia crashed ashore at Keaton Beach in Florida’s Big Bend region, lashing the coast with sustained winds of up to 125 mph, torrential rains and pounding surf.

Local, state and federal authorities will assess the full extent of damage in the days ahead. Insured property losses in Florida were projected to run $9.36 billion, investment bank UBS said in a research note.

While coastal communities sustained major damage, Idalia appeared to have been far less destructive than Hurricane Ian, a Category 5 storm that struck Florida last September, killing 150 people and causing $112 billion in damage.

“The community is resilient and we are going to work hard to make sure people get what they need,” Governor Ron DeSantis said during a news briefing on Thursday.

Florida has requested a major disaster declaration from the federal government for all 25 counties that fell under the hurricane warning, he said.

Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said during the news briefing that she would tour the area with DeSantis to assess the damage and that the governor and U.S. President Joe Biden have remained in close contact.