The North African country of Libya, located on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, is about 94% of the country covered by desert, and in many places it does not rain a few times a year. It is hard to imagine that a country with little rain and little rain will be hit by torrential rains and floods, with heavy casualties...
On September 10, an unprecedented cyclone caused the country's strongest flooding on record, devastated Libya, a country that has been in the midst of a perennial civil war. The disaster has killed at least 5,300 people, left more than 10,000 missing, and the city has been directly washed away by the flood, almost disappeared from the map, and the water is full of corpses. Why is the local infrastructure collapsing?
Floodwaters flooded into the city like a tsunami,
Dams collapsed, 1/4 of the city disappeared completely
Recently, Hurricane Daniel swept across the Mediterranean, ravaged Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece, and then pounced on Libya, severely devading a country that has suffered from more than 10 years of civil war.
On September 10, local time, Hurricane Daniel hit eastern Libya, causing severe flooding and killing at least 5,300 people. The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that more than 10,000 people are missing, and the death toll is expected to rise further.
On the evening of the 12th local time, the spokesman of the National Army that controls eastern Libya, Ramusha, said that the confirmed death toll has exceeded 5,300, all buildings in a large number of blocks have been washed away as a whole, the water has washed away the entire community, and many people have been washed into the sea, and the actual number of victims is likely to be much higher than the available data.
According to the BBC, the Libyan port city of Derna was the worst hit, with floodwaters pouring into the city like a tsunami, two dams burst, four bridges collapsed, and the city almost disappeared from the map. Relief efforts have been hampered by the political situation in Libya and damage to roads.
Derna is a thousand-year-old city in Libya and was one of the main cities in the Greek and Roman times. Many of the local buildings were built during the Italian colonial period, but they suffered a catastrophe in this 500-year rainstorm.
The storm broke dams, flattened buildings, and completely destroyed about 1/4 of the eastern coastal city of Derna. A minister who visited the port of Derna said: "Most of the city of Derna, inhabited by more than 100,000 people, sank after the collapse of two dams and four bridges. I was shocked by what I saw, it was like being hit by a tsunami and the whole city was washed away. ”
"There are corpses lying everywhere,
Inside the sea, in the valley, under the building"
A Reuters reporter interviewed in the city of Derna said the city of 125,000 people has changed beyond recognition, with cars washed upside down, a large number of trees washed down, and countless flooded houses that have been empty.
Video footage from the scene on September 12 showed the streets of Derna in a mess of rubble after the floodwaters receded, and more than 1,000 bodies were found in the city alone, which could only be temporarily placed on the ground and people shuttled through it to confirm. Deformed cars were piled up along the shoreline, demonstrating the power of the flood.
Jimshah, a member of the emergency committee of Libya's eastern government, said: "I am back from Derna. This is very catastrophic. There were corpses lying everywhere - in the sea, in the valleys, under buildings. More than 1,000 bodies were found in Derna. I am not exaggerating to say that 25% of the city has disappeared, and many, many buildings have collapsed. The collapse of a dam south of Derna caused much of the city to sink into the sea, destroying a huge community and killing a huge number of casualties. We don't have exact numbers, but it was a disaster and the dam that collapsed hasn't been maintained for some time. ”
Mismari, a spokesman for the Libyan National Army, said: "The inhabitants who fled Derna are alone, just like when the red stripes came to life. This is the first time we have encountered this type of weather, a sight that is completely caught off guard. The organization of relief operations was difficult as all roads to the worst-hit areas were almost cut off. ”
"I lost 30 loved ones,
Most people were sleeping at the time of the incident."
The city of Derna is bisected by a seasonal river that flows from the highlands to the south, often protected from flooding under the protection of dams. Then, the hurricane caused flooding, and two dams fell first.
Deputy Mayor Derna said the city's dams had not been maintained for more than two decades and the infrastructure could not withstand the floods. The first dam was only 70 meters high, and once the flood water broke through the dam, raging water collected behind the second dam, eventually causing the dam to burst. In the low-lying areas of Derna, residential areas are flooded.
According to the analysis, one of the main reasons for the disaster in Derna is the collapse of two dams, the entire urban area has almost been washed away, the hospital cannot operate, the morgue is full, and the people are sadly looking for missing relatives.
A 39-year-old resident of the city of Derna said: "I lost 30 loved ones, most of them were sleeping at the time of the incident, no one was ready. ”
Another 39-year-old resident said the floodwaters reached the upper floor of his house, but fortunately the couple and young daughter survived, but other relatives died. "At first we thought it was just raining, but at midnight we heard a loud explosion and the sound of a dam breaking," he said. ”
A video on social networks showed floodwaters ravaging the entire street, cars on the side of the road were all rushed down, and people with nowhere to hide could only lie on the roof of their cars, but they were still washed away by the floodwaters, and some people were trapped in their cars and unable to move.
Sandos, a native of Derna, recounted her experience on social networks where she almost died after her home was swept away by floods. While struggling through the torrent, she witnessed a large number of children trapped in the current, most of them tragically. "There are bodies next to me, I have bodies on me, and there are bodies pressed under me," she said. I was finally rescued after being washed into shallow water, but my family members are missing and I am really desperate and I hope to die with them. ”
On September 12, in Derna, Libya, the city was in shambles, and cars were blown over in floodwaters and sunk into the earth
The flood swept man directly into the sea,
Hospitals in the disaster area could not operate and could only collect corpses
The data shows that the last time Libya experienced large-scale flooding was in 2019, killing four people in the southwest. The floods are not only a disaster that Libya has never experienced, but also a difficult challenge for the North African country, which is still politically unstable.
According to the analysis, in the North African country of Libya, about 94% of the country is covered by desert. Many places don't rain several times a year, and many people may never see what a "downpour" looks like in their lifetime. Local buildings are difficult to withstand heavy rains and floods, and even the next heavy rain may collapse. The peak of the flood arrives at night, like a tsunami, destroying everything in front of it, and the sleeping residents cannot hide.
The floods crippled Derna's infrastructure, disrupted electricity and communications systems, and made it difficult to count casualties. The number of missing people can range from 10,000 to 100,000. For developed countries such as Greece, a sound early warning system, sufficient financial resources, and a sound governance system all ensure that the impact of meteorological disasters is relatively controllable, while the countries with the weakest preparedness will suffer the most damage, which is why Libya suffered heavy casualties in the floods.
Local people said they were awakened in the middle of the night by a storm and watched their homes flood, floodwaters everywhere, vehicles washed away and living people washed away. The flood swept many people directly into the sea, and corpses floated on the surface of the water. With the road into the city completely paralyzed, rescuers were unable to reach the area.
A spokesman for the Derna emergency ambulance service said that the major hospitals in the city of Derna are no longer operable, the morgue is full, and the remains can only be placed in the walkway outside the morgue. One doctor said: "All that can be done now is to gather the decomposing remains. ”
The two Libyan governments fought each other,
The protracted political conflict has exacerbated the catastrophe
The New York Times analyzed that although oil resources are abundant, after more than a decade of political turmoil and years of civil war, the infrastructure is backward and difficult to withstand the attack of natural disasters. The war-torn country was ill-prepared for Hurricane Daniel, divided between two rival regimes, had crumbled infrastructure without maintenance, and nearly collapsed public services, complicating relief efforts.
The falling political situation in Libya has made the disaster worse. Since the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime in 2011, Libya has been mired in the turmoil of more than a decade of civil war, with two governments in the west and east pitted against each other.
At present, there are two governments in Libya, one is the United Nations-recognized national unity government led by Debeiba and has a core in Tripoli, which mainly controls the western part of Libya, and the other is a national military government authorized by the Libyan parliament, led by Hamad and with a core in Sirte, which mainly controls the eastern and central regions. The flooding of Derna falls under the latter's control.
According to the analysis, Libya's long-term political conflict has made the country more vulnerable to extreme weather, and hostile regimes on both sides have made risk communication, hazard strategy assessment, and coordination of rescue operations more difficult; The Libyan National Army, which controls the eastern region, did not anticipate such a magnitude and lacked the ability to anticipate the evacuation of people. The country is currently facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with tens of thousands of troops moving in, but still struggling to gain access to many of the affected areas.
Natural or man-made disasters?
Civil unrest has left infrastructure poor and hurricanes in the face of invincibility
Why are flood casualties in Libya so heavy? Is it a natural disaster or a man-made disaster?
Krqazni, a Libyan expert at the International Crisis Group, said: "Ocean warming, political chaos and inadequate infrastructure, combined with the devastating situation caused by flooding, have led to heavy casualties in Libya. Libya has gone through one war after another over the past 10 years, which means that in the last 10 years, Libya's infrastructure has not really received much real investment. Global warming is expanding Mediterranean waters and rising sea levels are eroding coastlines, triggering flooding, especially Libya's low-lying coastal areas. ”
British climate experts said: "Climate change will make extreme weather events more frequent and powerful, but social, political and economic factors determine who is most at risk. Libya's civil strife has left poor infrastructure, making extreme weather events even more severe and devastating. ”
Gomati, head of Libya's Centre for Policy Studies, said hurricanes like Daniel could be predicted hours or days in advance. The cyclone has wreaked havoc in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria, killing more than a dozen, but the Libyan government still appears to have made no serious plans to monitor the dam, warn or evacuate residents.
Gomati said: "They all say that it is a natural disaster, but it is actually a man-made disaster. This is the incompetence of Libya's political elite, and I can find no words to describe how much suffering the people have to endure. As long as the political situation is unstable, climate disasters are likely to repeat themselves in Libya. ”
Ali, a spokesman for emergency ambulance in Libya, said: "Libya is unprepared for such a catastrophe, and we have never experienced a disaster of this magnitude. The state did not study weather conditions, sea water levels and rainfall, wind speeds, or evacuate families that may be in storm paths and valleys. ”
China Business Daily Gale News Reporter Guo Ji Compilation Editor Yang Dehe