[14] Climate warming may also have influenced mid-latitude atmospheric blocking in the summer, which resulted in Storm Daniel and another cold-core low that caused flooding in Spain.
[23] On 6 September, the Krafsidonas river, which rises at Pelion, overflowed its banks in Volos and destroyed a bridge[24] and a nursing home,[25] while dragging cars, buses,[26] trees, and other debris along its path.
[33] One man died in Volos when a wall collapsed on him, and in the nearby Pelion area the body of an old lady was discovered on 6 September while four people were reported missing.
[34][38] Later that month, the Deputy Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Evangelos Tournas, reported to the Hellenic Parliament that 110,000 animals were found dead and 135,000 poultry were registered as lost across Thessaly.
Most of the rivers in the region burst their banks and several bridges were destroyed, causing serious transporting and rescue problems to over 4,000 inhabitants and tourists, according to tourism minister Zaritsa Dinkova.
[41] Osama Hamada, Prime Minister of the Government of National Stability which controls eastern Libya, declared a state of emergency on 9 September and suspended classes as a precaution.
[58][59] Residents recalled hearing loud explosions at the time the dams burst,[60] with video showing the flood reaching Derna shortly before 03:00 EET on 11 September.
[77] The scale of the disaster in Derna was attributed to decades of neglect of the region by the regime of Muammar Gaddafi,[78][79][80] followed by the city becoming a battleground during the civil war and concurrent NATO intervention in the 2010s and its resulting political effects that included the establishment of rival governments in the west and east of the country respectively.
The collapsed dams were built by Yugoslav company Hidrotehnika-Hidroenergetika[81] from 1973 to 1977 to control flooding,[82] irrigate agricultural lands and provide water to nearby communities.
[89] As recently as 2022, a researcher at the Omar Al-Mukhtar University in Bayda, Libya, had warned in a paper that the dams needed urgent attention, pointing out that there was "a high potential for flood risk".
[113] Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the de facto ruler of eastern Libya, called the damage "huge" and "hard to describe or measure".
[123] The World Meteorological Organization said that the casualties caused by the floods could have been prevented had a functional weather service been in place in Libya and that satellite earth observations have provided a better response to monitoring soil erosion that increased flow destructive power.
[124] The United Nations' aid chief Martin Griffiths said on 14 September that an estimated 884,000 people in the country were in need of assistance,[125] while almost 300,000 children were at risk of exposure to post-flood diseases, violence and exploitation.
[126] The Libyan Post Telecommunications and Information Technology Company said that the storm cut off the submarine internet cable linking Libya to Europe, "completely" destroying the country's international communications gateway.
Manar Ghanem, a representative from the media center of the Egyptian Meteorological Authority, refuted any connection between the phenomenon and Daniel, but noted that the storm had caused dust, rain and weather fluctuations.
[131] The Libyan Presidential Council based in Tripoli declared the cities of Derna, Shahhat, and Bayda disaster zones,[132] while the Tripoli-based Health Ministry dispatched a plane carrying 14 tons of medical equipment, drugs, body bags, and personnel to Benghazi on 12 September.
[134] Dbeibah pledged an investigation over the extensive damage, as well as the allotment of 2.5 billion Libyan dinars ($515 million) to help rebuild Derna and Benghazi,[135] while the House of Representatives unveiled a nearly $2-billion budget for relief efforts.
[87] Abdulmenam Al-Ghaithi was suspended from his post as mayor of Derna,[139] while the entire city council was dismissed and subjected to investigation on orders of Prime Minister Hamada.
[143] Ordinary Libyans also responded to calls for help on social media, with individuals as far away as Zawiya, in GNU-controlled territory west of Tripoli, volunteering to go to Derna to assist in relief efforts.
At the same time, reports emerged of the Libyan National Army – commanded by Khalifa Haftar – preventing journalists from entering the city and confiscating their phones.
[147] On 14 September, the port of Derna was reopened to vessels with a minimum draft level of 6.5 meters delivering humanitarian aid,[148] while electricity was restored to the western part of the city.
[160] Internet and telephone access was cut for 36 hours, which the state telecommunications company said was caused by the severing of fiber-optic cables due to possible sabotage.
[157] Tunisia, Germany, Qatar, Iran, Malta, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates pledged humanitarian assistance to Libya,[162][64][58][163] while Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said that he would deploy the country's military in coordination with eastern Libyan forces to help in relief operations.
[164] A military delegation led by armed forces chief of staff Osama Askar went to eastern Libya on 12 September to meet with Khalifa Haftar.
[166] Following a request from the president of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohamed al-Menfi, Algeria sent eight Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft carrying humanitarian aid that included food supplies, medical equipment, clothing, and tents.
[169] The Italian government extended its state of “intervention for overseas emergency” for six months and allocated five million euros to support relief operations in eastern Libya.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the organization was on stand-by to bring support, while the commission's president Ursula von der Leyen expressed condolences.
[171] The European Union also pledged to provide €2 billion to Greece in the aftermath of the natural disasters, expected to be used for reconstruction efforts and restoration of the affected areas.
Al-Hilal Benghazi also asked the CAF to postpone its upcoming African Confederation Cup match scheduled on 15 September against Rwandan side Rayon Sport, citing the "unsuitable" situation created by the floods.
The increase was partly attributed to Storm Daniel, as people-smugglers paused operations for several days during its onslaught, thus creating a bottleneck for those stuck in North African countries such as Tunisia.