Storm 'Daniel' leaves at least 150 dead in Libya, heads to Egypt after hitting Greece

A powerful storm dubbed “Daniel” hit Libya on Monday, with reportedly 150 dead and many missing, as well as causing severe damage to a number of villages and cities, after striking Greece with flooding and heavy rains that resulted in several deaths.

"At least 150 people were killed as a result of flooding and torrential rains left by storm Daniel," a spokesman for the Benghazi-based administration in Libya, Mohamed Massoud, told AFP.

Egypt’s Meteorological Authority said on Monday that the storm was “now heading to the Egyptian border,” explaining that its impact “will reach the cities of Salloum, Siwa, and Matrouh in the west of the country, and will reach Alexandria in the evening.”

“The country is affected by wind speeds and sand blowing over areas of Greater Cairo, the canal cities, the northern coasts, and northern Upper Egypt,” the Egyptian authority described.

“Then clouds will begin to enter the country, accompanied by rain that may be heavy and thundery, in the far west,” it added.

The head of the "National Unity" government in Libya, Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba, issued a decree on Monday to consider the areas exposed to floods and heavy rains as "disaster areas," directing "all public and competent authorities to take urgent and exceptional measures to confront the damage of floods and torrential rains."

“Within hours, aid and rescue convoys will depart to send all necessary support to those affected. We are conducting an inventory of all damages and will compensate all citizens, whether their homes or farms have been damaged,” the Libyan prime minister stated.

The Libyan Education Ministry also announced studies were suspended on Monday in all directorates of the eastern region, in light of the extreme weather.

The storm "Daniel" arrived in Libya from Greece, after causing severe damage and killing 15 people. According to Reuters, it was the most extreme rainstorm the Greeks have seen since records began in 1930.

Also on Monday, the UN rights chief Volker Turk decried the impact of climate change, saying "we do not need more warnings. The dystopian future is already here.”