Professor says Crete avoided the worst of its storm despite serious damage in Lasithi
A multi-day storm that struck Crete as September gave way to October left one person dead in Karines, Rethymno, and caused extensive damage to crops, roads and private property, according to Giorgos Tsakiris, emeritus professor of hydraulics and land reclamation works at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and a former caretaker Minister of Rural Development and Food in 2023, in comments to Cretalive.
Tsakiris, who analyzed the event from a hydrological perspective, said his first conclusion was that “the worst was avoided.” He noted the death of the farmer in Rethymno and the damage across the island, while pointing to specific, avoidable factors behind the severity of the impact in some areas.
What should have been done
According to Tsakiris, the rainfall was unusual in volume, which he said explains the large accumulation of water in several areas, including the Lasithi Plateau, creating serious problems for crops, livestock and infrastructure. He said he agreed with meteorologists who compared the event to a storm in 2019.
No infrastructure could have withstood such a volume of water, he acknowledged. However, he said two interventions in Lasithi prefecture should have been carried out earlier: regulation of the Chavgas stream on the Lasithi Plateau, and the construction of small retention dams for water and debris in Ierapetra.
The forecast and a “two-dimensional phenomenon”
Among the few positives he identified was that the urban centers of northern Crete were not hit particularly hard. Tsakiris said the event was “handled satisfactorily, to be honest and fair, by the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, the Region of Crete and local authorities,” citing the mobilization of the relevant mechanism.
He said the forecast from the Risk Assessment Committee at the Ministry of Climate Crisis was reasonably satisfactory. The 112 warning was issued quickly, the red-code alert was declared in time, and procedures and protocols were activated between the first and second wave of the storm, from Saturday to Sunday.
Hydrologists treat the event as a “two-dimensional phenomenon,” Tsakiris said: extreme both in total water volume and in rainfall height, far exceeding a 100-year return period. “Consider that we study equivalent works over a 50-year horizon,” he said.
What the future holds
Tsakiris said environmental changes, reaching crisis proportions, are visible to everyone, and that Crete will increasingly face the effects of climate change, compounded by human interventions. He said the near future holds both prolonged drought periods, similar to those experienced in recent years, and severe, sudden weather outbursts, storms and floods, which he said are not a “solution” to drought.
“The key factor in making use of water is the rate at which rain falls,” he said, noting that when rainfall is concentrated into one or two 24-hour periods, its yield is far from ideal. Rainfall needs to be distributed more evenly across time and space so that underground aquifers can absorb it, he said.
He added that restoring damage in affected areas needs to move forward immediately, without the usual bureaucratic delays, with compensation paid as quickly as possible.
Why Lasithi was tested
Adapting to new conditions requires corresponding structural changes, Tsakiris said, advising that “we must learn to live with such phenomena,” which he said will become more frequent, even though they remain extreme by past standards.
He was clear that “climate change is not the cause of every problem,” attributing the ordeal faced by Lasithi prefecture, in Ierapetra and on the Lasithi Plateau, to specific causes.
In Ierapetra, he said the destructive effects of a 2025 wildfire were evident. A fire causes loss of vegetation, leaving soil hydrophobic, meaning it repels rather than retains water. “After the fires, some dams should have been built to hold back the water before it reaches the lowland zone,” he said. The regional deputy authority has recently approved studies for 12 dams, which Tsakiris said are ready to go to tender, an area that has also seen mud and landslides following recent storms.
On the Lasithi Plateau, he said immediate delineation and regulation of the Chavgas stream is required. His concluding message was that all of these measures should move forward with boldness and determination.
