Sept 15, 2023. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
The death
toll in Libya's coastal city of Derna has soared to 11,300 as search efforts
continue following a massive flood fed by the breaching of two dams in heavy
rains, the Libyan Red Crescent said Thursday.
Marie el-Drese, the aid group's secretary-general, told The Associated Press by phone that a further 10,100 people are reported missing in the Mediterranean city. Health authorities previously put the death toll in Derna at 5,500. The storm also killed about 170 people elsewhere in the country.
The
flooding swept away entire families in Derna on Sunday night and exposed
vulnerabilities in the oil-rich country that has been mired in conflict since a
2011 uprising that toppled long-ruling dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
WHAT
HAPPENED IN LIBYA?
Daniel, an
unusually strong Mediterranean storm, caused deadly flooding in communities
across eastern Libya, but the worst-hit was Derna. As the storm pounded the
coast Sunday night, residents said they heard loud explosions when two dams
outside the city collapsed. Floodwaters gushed down Wadi Derna, a valley that
cuts through the city, crashing through buildings and washing people out to
sea.
A U.N.
official said Thursday that most casualties could have been avoided.
“If there
would have been a normal operating meteorological service, they could have
issued the warnings," World Meteorological Organization head Petteri
Taalas told reporters in Geneva. "The emergency management authorities
would have been able to carry out the evacuation.”
The WMO
said earlier this week that the National Meteorological Center issued warnings
72 hours before the flooding, notifying all governmental authorities by email
and through media.
Officials
in eastern Libya warned the public about the coming storm, and on Saturday,
they ordered residents to evacuate coastal areas, fearing a surge from the sea.
But there was no warning about the dams collapsing.
HOW DOES
CONFLICT IN LIBYA AFFECT THE DISASTER?
The
startling devastation reflected the storm’s intensity, but also Libya’s
vulnerability. Oil-rich Libya has been divided between rival governments for
most of the past decade — one in the east, the other in the capital, Tripoli —
and one result has been the widespread neglect of infrastructure.
The two
dams that collapsed outside Derna were built in the 1970s. A report by a
state-run audit agency in 2021 said the dams had not been maintained despite
the allocation of more than 2 million euros for that purpose in 2012 and 2013.
Libya's
Tripoli-based prime minister, Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, acknowledged the maintenance
issues during a Cabinet meeting Thursday and called on the Public Prosecutor to
open an urgent investigation into the dams' collapse.
The
disaster brought a rare moment of unity, as government agencies across the
country rushed to help the affected areas.
While the
Tobruk-based government of eastern Libya is leading relief efforts, the
Tripoli-based western government allocated the equivalent of $412 million for
reconstruction in Derna and other eastern towns, and an armed group in Tripoli
sent a convoy with humanitarian aid.
WHAT'S
HAPPENING NOW?
Derna has
begun burying its dead, mostly in mass graves, said eastern Libya’s health
minister, Othman Abduljaleel on Thursday.
More than
3,000 bodies were buried by Thursday morning, the minister said, while another
2,000 were still being processed, He said most of the dead were buried in mass
graves outside Derna, while others were transferred to nearby towns and cities.
Abduljaleel
said rescue teams were still searching wrecked buildings in the city center,
and divers were combing the sea off Derna.
Untold
numbers could be buried under drifts of mud and debris, including overturned
cars and chunks of concrete, that rise up to 4 meters (13 feet) high. Rescuers
have struggled to bring in heavy equipment as the floods washed out or blocked
roads leading to the area.
Libya's
eastern based parliament, The House of Representatives, on Thursday approved an
emergency budget of 10 billion Libyan dinars — roughly $2 billion — to address
the flooding and help those affected.
HOW MANY
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED?
As of
Thursday, the Libyan Red Crescent said that 11,300 people have been killed, and
a further 10,100 are reported missing.
However,
local officials suggested that the death toll could be much higher than
announced.
In comments
to the Saudi-owned Al Arabia television station on Thursday, Derna Mayor
Abdel-Moneim al-Ghaithi said the tally could climb to 20,000 given the number
of neighborhoods that were washed out.
The storm
also killed around 170 people in other parts of eastern Libya, including the
towns of Bayda, Susa, Um Razaz and Marj, the health minister said.
The dead in
eastern Libya included at least 84 Egyptians, whose remains were transferred to
their home country on Wednesday. More than 70 came from one village in the
southern province of Beni Suef. Libyan media also said dozens of Sudanese
migrants were killed in the disaster.
IS HELP
REACHING SURVIVORS?
The floods
have displaced at least 30,000 people in Derna, according to the U.N.’s
International Organization for Migration, and several thousand others were
forced to leave their homes in other eastern towns, it said.
The floods
damaged or destroyed many access roads to Derna, hampering the arrival of
international rescue teams and humanitarian assistance. Local authorities were
able to clear some routes, and humanitarian convoys have been able to enter the
city over the past couple of days.
The U.N.
humanitarian office issued an emergency appeal for $71.4 million to respond to
urgent needs of 250,000 Libyans most affected. The office, known as OCHA,
estimated that approximately 884,000 people in five provinces live in areas
directly affected by the rain and flooding.
The
International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that it has provided
6,000 body bags to local authorities, as well as medical, food and other
supplies distributed to hard-hit communities.
International
aid started to arrive earlier this week in Benghazi, 250 kilometers (150 miles)
west of Derna. Several countries have sent aid and rescue teams, including
neighboring Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia. Italy dispatched a naval vessel on
Thursday carrying humanitarian aid and two navy helicopters to be used for
search and rescue operations.
President
Joe Biden said the United States would send money to relief organizations and
coordinate with Libyan authorities and the United Nations to provide additional
support.
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