At least 15 people were murdered and over 75,000 hectares of land were submerged by the floods caused by Storm Daniel this week in central Greece.

The rich Thessaly Plain in central Greece, which produced almost a quarter of the country’s agricultural output. Before being batter by Storm Daniel from September 4 to 6, is now desert. At least 15 people found murder and more than 75,000 hectares of land submerg by the torrential rains, which experts describe as “extreme in terms of the amount of water that fell.”

Following this summer’s fires, which claimed at least 16 lives and destroy thousands of hectares of forest, the government has come under fire for its haphazard handling of yet another natural disaster as rescue workers in the area continue to free residents who have been trapp in their homes without water or electricity since the severe weather start on September 5.The anxious residents of Palamas, a community that now resembles a lake, complain in the Greek media about “the delays in rescue operations.” “It took 15 hours for help to show up when the rain started. The prefecture and civil protection had not set up boats to evacuate stranded persons despite the meteorological services’ warnings, a pensioner informed news network Open TV.

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“There was no organization at all.”

Vaiou Bakavelou, the deputy mayor of Palamas, add that “the state system took a long time to get set up. We left without drinking water even after the accident for three days, and the victims not properly taken care of.

Residents claim that the Karditsa district only alerted through SMS on the morning of Thursday. September 7, after the area had already been under water for several hours. Floods can spread more swiftly than fires, and evacuations might be more challenging. Moving around to prevent getting carrie away by the rising seas is not advise, according to the Greek civil protection.

Additionally criticized was the army’s and civil protection’s lack of coordination. As state by Army helicopters finally activated late on September 6. One day after the incident, according to the center-right publication Kathimerini.