A powerful storm in the Aegean Sea struck Greece on March 31, causing severe flooding on the islands of Paros, Mykonos, and Crete, as well as heavy rainfall on Rhodes and Samos.
The storm brought not only rain but also strong winds, which toppled trees and damaged buildings on Rhodes. On other islands of the Dodecanese archipelago, including Kos, Kalymnos, Symi, and Tilos, schools were closed in anticipation of further flooding later in the week.
Paros was hit the hardest, with floods submerging stores and damaging property in the towns of Naousa and Parikia, while torrents of water swept away vehicles. A civil protection officer from the Paros municipality stated that they had left notices on all vehicles parked along the road leading to the port, warning owners to move their cars. However, many ignored the warning, and their vehicles were washed away by the floodwaters.
Crete bore the brunt of the storm on April 1 and 2. The highest daily rainfall was recorded at the National Observatory of Athens' meteorological station in Nerokouros, Chania, measuring four point nine inches. The torrential rains triggered landslides, and rescue teams evacuated people trapped in their cars.
In Tavronitis, a hotel caught fire after being struck by lightning, but fortunately, the fire department responded swiftly.
According to recent studies by scientists from ClimaMeter, a platform analyzing extreme weather events in a changing climate, storms have become increasingly moisture-laden.
Researchers conducted a rapid analysis based on seventy-four years of historical meteorological data from the Copernicus service and found that storms like the one that hit Greece in late March now bring an additional zero point two inches of precipitation per day — an increase of ten to fifteen percent compared to past records.
One of the reasons behind this phenomenon is micro- and nanoplastic pollution, which significantly intensifies rainfall, increases hail size, and leads to other extreme weather anomalies. This was explained in detail by Dr. Egon Cholakian, a representative of the international scientific group Allatra, in the video “Invisible Threat.”