## 1 Introduction  
As a distinctive part of the geomorphic evolution of active mountain belts, landslides play an important role in gradually changing the landscape. The triggering of landslides is related to earthquake, meteorological and human-induced factors. The former cases are reported in active tectonic zones and are characterized by the sudden occurrence of co-seismic landslides covering large areas close to the earthquake fault rupture. As it has been demonstrated by [1], fault rupture geometry and kinematics plays a significant role to the spatial distribution and density of the coseismic landslides. On the other hand, most of the landslide-related phenomena are generated by intense rainfalls. It is well known that long periods of low intensity rainfall can trigger deep-seated landslides while short duration heavy intensity rainfall is mostly related to shallow mass movements [2]. Climate change, caused by global warming in the recent years, is expected to lead to an increase of the rate of landslide phenomena in the near future [3]. One of the outcomes of climate change is a more frequent occurrence of tropical-like cyclones in areas of dry climate and relatively shallow seas. The Mediterranean Basin is one of the most cyclogenetic regions worldwide as a result of its characteristic morphology [4]. Medicanes, a concatenation of Mediterranean Sea with hurricanes, resemble tropical cyclones but present certain differences. The formation of Medicanes is highly controlled by the air-sea interaction [5]. Generally, high sea surface temperatures favor their formation especially when the air temperature is relatively low [6]. Tropical cyclones emerge when the temperature of the sea surface exceeds 26 \({}^{\circ}\)C. Nevertheless, the correspondent temperatures in the Mediterranean range between 18 to 23 \({}^{\circ}\)C [7; 8], much lower than the threshold required for the tropical cyclone formation. Moreover, the expected lifespan of Medicanes is shorter than that of tropical storms. The return period of Medicanes is higher in the central and western Mediterranean Sea [9] despite the fact that the eastern basin is warmer (a favorable factor for the development of tropical-like cyclones). This phenomenon is probably related to the fact that the central and western Mediterranean is prone to cold upper-air intrusions from north and central Europe [6]. A Medicare usually carries enough energy to travel large distances (sometimes hundreds of kms) causing torrential rains and strong winds until its deterioration. Its environmental and socioeconomic impact can be devastating. One of these meteorological events is Medicare \"Ianos\" that occurred in September 2020 and formed as a result of a cluster of convection off the Libyan coast on 14 September 2020 [10; 11; 12; 13]. Over the following days, it moved to the north and intensified before making landfall over Greece on 17 September 2020. After impacting western and central Greece, it changed its course and reached south Crete island by 20 September 2020. Medicare lanos triggered intense rainfall at the central and southwestern part of Greece (Figure 1), including the two areas focused in this study; western Thessaly and Ionian Islands. Accumulated rainfall peaked at 769 mm for 17-18 September in Cephalonia island in the Ionian Sea, while Pertouli and Mouzaki stations in western Thessaly peaked at 317 mm and 268 mm [12]. This natural phenomenon induced thousands of mostly shallow landslides, debris flows and floods mainly at Central Greece and particularly at the area of Karditsa, Thessaly, Central Greece [14; 15; 16]. Landslides blocked most of the narrow mountainous roads and damaged numerous bridges [15; 17]. This resulted in the isolation of communities located in higher elevations and delayed emergency response and recovery [14; 17]. Figure 1: (**a**) Medicare Ianos over Greece, Sentinel-3 OLCI true color image acquired on 18 September 2020, one day after Medicare landing. (**b**) Satellite precipitation (NASA IMERG) of 18 September 2020.