Climate Change: Cyclone Daniel: A ‘Natural’ Disaster Exacerbated by Climate Change and Political Instability

Oct 2, 2023 | Drew Marcantonio and Jason Miklian
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Cyclone Daniel may be the deadliest natural disaster in the Mediterranean’s history. Daniel made landfall in Libya on September 10, after months of unrelenting drought. The storm’s intense rainfall fell on compacted soils too dry to absorb the water, and the rising floodwaters overwhelmed two dams above the coastal city of Derna. Estimates have shifted substantially in recent days, but at least 6,000 people have died and thousands more are missing, swept out to sea or buried under rubble and sediment. The before and after imagery shows a city buried and broken.