Storm Daniel Leaves Trail of Destruction in Greece, Turkey And Bulgaria; 14 Killed in Flash Floods

Storms have devastated parts of Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey with heavy rain, producing floods that have killed at least 14 people.

The storm, dubbed Daniel by Greek meteorologists, has been pounding the region since Monday, primarily affecting the central Greek region of Magnesia and its city, Volos, which is located 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of Athens.

According to the fire department, the rains caused at least three deaths near the central city of Volos and in Karditsa, farther west. Three people have gone missing.

Power outage due to Storm Daniel

An 87-year-old woman who had been missing since Tuesday was discovered dead on Wednesday in the village of Paltsi in Magnesia, while a 51-year-old man was discovered dead in Volos on Tuesday after being swept away by a rising flood.

Volos has been without power since Tuesday morning, and landslides and water have badly destroyed buildings and roads in adjacent communities.

The heavy rains come after weeks of destructive wildfires in Greece. "This is an extreme phenomenon," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview.

Read Also: Storm Daniel: Intense Weather Warnings Raised In Greece, Massive Floods Expected

Flash flood in Turkey

A flash flood at a campsite in northeastern Turkey near the Bulgarian border killed at least five people, three of whom were discovered dead on Wednesday, and washed away bungalow dwellings. Rescuers were still looking for one person who had gone missing at the campsite.

Another two individuals were killed in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, where rains on Tuesday flooded hundreds of homes and businesses in various neighborhoods.

According to Turkish station HaberTurk TV, one of the victims in Istanbul was a 32-year-old Guinean citizen who was trapped inside his basement apartment in the low-income Kucukcekmece area.

The other was a 57-year-old woman who died after being swept away by floodwaters in another area.

According to the Istanbul governor's office, the city's floodwaters affected more than 1,750 homes and businesses. This includes a row of storefronts in the Ikitelli area, where the torrential rain pulled parked cars and muck into furniture stores, ruining the products.

Meanwhile, the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria has also been hammered by the highest rainfall in years.

Thunderstorms have forced rivers to flood, damaging bridges and blocking access in the region south of the coastal city of Burgas since Monday evening.

On Wednesday, the body of a missing tourist was discovered in the sea, bringing the total death toll in the area to three.

Border patrol vessels and drones were assisting in the search for two more people who had gone missing.

According to Tourism Minister Zaritsa Dinkova, the disaster affected around 4,000 people along Bulgaria's whole southern Black Sea coast.

"There is a problem transporting tourists because it is dangerous to go by coach on the roads affected by the floods," she said in an interview.

According to the head of the fire department, Alexandar Dzhartov, the rains were the highest since 1994, with as much rain falling in 24 hours as is generally observed in several months.

Flooding, which was previously uncommon on the Black Sea coast, is becoming more widespread in Bulgaria as a result of climate change and poor infrastructure maintenance.

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