cyclone Harry tore through the central Mediterranean in mid-January 2026 with a ferocity that shattered records—winds howling at gale force, waves cresting 16 meters, rain falling in sheets across southern Italy, Malta, and Tunisia. On land, the storm flooded homes, created landslides and crippled infrastructure leaving billions of euros worth of devastation in its wake. At sea, it became a slaughter. According to Mediterranea Saving Humans and media reports, at least 27 of 29 boats that left Tunisia’s Sfax region sank during the tempest, with estimates of at least 1,000 migrants feared dead —one of the deadliest single episodes on the central route in recent memory. The Italian coastguard confirmed 380 people unaccounted for from just eight vessels. The UN’s International Organization for Migration warned of hundreds more lost across multiple wrecks over ten days of unrelenting chaos. Some boats also departed from Libya, including a sinking off Tobruk that left at least 51 feared dead.