Greece engulfed in catastrophic flooding after record-breaking Storm Daniel

The body count in Greece just spiked to a harrowing 15 souls, as rescue teams made the grim discovery of four more bodies on Sunday. This comes after Storm Daniel wreaked havoc across the nation for three punishing days, right on the heels of the most torrid summer ever recorded and catastrophic wildfires—branded as the EU’s “largest ever.” With two individuals still reportedly missing, the previous toll of 11 has now been eclipsed. All this in a nation that has already been beaten to its knees by cataclysmic wildfires earlier this summer. A record-breaking deluge, the likes of which Greece hasn’t witnessed since 1930, continues to flood the landscape.

Breaking: Missing Persons and Dire Circumstances in Worst-Hit Areas

The deceased, tragically, include an 88-year-old woman and men aged 58, 65, and 42, found near Karditsa—one of the hardest-hit regions—and the area of Volos. That’s not all, a jaw-dropping 4,250 people have been forcibly removed from their inundated homes, airlifted, or navigated in lifeboats across flood-ravaged regions. Greece’s rescue efforts are now primarily centered around villages near Larissa city and the overflowing River Pineios, which has brought further calamity to already beleaguered villages.

Unthinkable Damage: Collapse of Infrastructure and Financial Aftershocks

The floodwaters have obliterated everything in their path—houses, bridges, schools, roads, and even power poles have been annihilated. Once fertile farmlands in the Greek region of Thessaly have been wiped off the map, and countless animals have lost their lives. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Sunday evening that financial relief will soon arrive for flood victims. He also hinted at meeting the EU Commission President to secure extra funds, as the impact of this unprecedented storm was “beyond any prediction.”

Crisis After Crisis: Will Greece Ever Catch a Break?

This mind-boggling sequence of disasters follows Athens witnessing its most blistering July weekend in a half-century, with mercury levels surpassing 40 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, it leads to questions about climate change, with scientists noting that Greece’s Mediterranean climate makes it particularly vulnerable to increasingly frequent freak weather phenomena.