According to preliminary statistics from the Libyan Red Crescent, more than 10,000 people have died in the Libyan floods, and more than 10,000 others are missing. Local officials said 20,000 people may have died in the floods.
Experts say that rare extreme weather and lack of maintenance infrastructure have combined to lead to disastrous consequences. In Libya, which has experienced a long period of conflict and confrontation, the lack of maintenance of infrastructure such as dams and the inability of meteorological and emergency departments to function properly are believed to magnify the damage caused by natural disasters. The World Meteorological Organization believes that if Libya had functioning meteorological and emergency agencies, most of the loss of life might have been avoided.
There are still many remains in the sea
According to CCTV news, the Libyan Red Crescent said on September 14 that the number of people killed in Derna, the hardest hit, has risen to 11,300, and more than 10,000 people are missing.
The initial number of victims varied considerably. In addition to the data released by the Libyan Red Crescent Society on September 14, Libya's representative to the United Nations said on the same day that about 6,000 people were confirmed dead and thousands were missing; Derna officials said 20,000 people could have died in the floods.
Salim Nas, head of the DRC Red Crescent Media Centre, said: "There are still many bodies in the sea, about 2,000, and we continue to find them under the rubble of houses. ”
Prime Minister Debaiba of Libya's national unity government said the number of casualties could not be confirmed until the rescue work was completed.
On September 14, 2023, local time, in Derna, Libya, parts of the car washed away by the flood were buried in mud on the side of the road. Photo/Visual China
International aid forces are rushing to the affected areas of Libya. UN Secretary-General spokesman Dijarric said a few days ago that the UN team in Libya is mobilizing resources and emergency response teams on the ground to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to people in the disaster area.
On 14 September, the World Health Organization announced an emergency allocation of US$2 million to the affected Libyan areas and the activation of a network of emergency medical teams, with a shipment of 28 tons of medical and emergency supplies to arrive in the Libyan affected areas. The World Food Programme said it would deliver food to the affected areas in northeastern Libya after a full assessment.
China, the United States, France, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, the African Union and other countries and international organizations also issued statements expressing their condolences and assistance to Libya.
Floodwaters rushed into Derna in the early hours of the morning
Derna was the hardest hit. On September 10, local time, Hurricane Daniel began to hit eastern Libya, causing two dams in the eastern city of Derna, to burst their embankments, and then caused flooding.
According to an article on the Yale Climate Connect website, the flood was a disaster caused by a combination of climate and infrastructure factors. The Libyan flood was the deadliest in Africa since 1900, and preliminary statistics have killed more than the 1927 Algerian flood (about 3,000 killed).
Both dams were reportedly built about 50 years ago, and one of them has not been maintained since 2002. The first dam upstream collapsed first, and the resulting turbulence subsequently overwhelmed the second dam. The flood water rushed down the mountain into the city of Derna.
Meteorologists Bob Hansen and Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connect said the raging floodwaters rushed like a wall down a perennially dry river into the city of Derna. The waterway from which the flood was about 100 metres wide washed away residential areas along the way.
"The flood was up to 7 meters high, washing the entire residential area into the sea." Jessica Musan, media relations adviser for the Near and Middle East region of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), previously told the Beijing News.
Floodwaters reportedly poured into Derna in the early hours of the morning and people were sleeping. According to one survivor, at about 2:30 a.m. local time on September 11, he heard the dog barking, got up and went downstairs to check, and found that water had flooded into the house. He went to open the front door, and a flood water rushed in, washing the door off the frame. He saw nightmarish scenes outside, floodwaters wrapped around bodies, cars, houses washed down. He was also washed away by the floods, but managed to grab something and climbed onto the roof of a building, where he waited until the floodwaters receded.
Another survivor told the media that Hurricane Daniel was not terrible at first, but that the rain became heavier on the night of September 10 and the disaster began in the early morning of September 11. He and others climbed to the top of a 7-story apartment building and saw a 3-story apartment building where his neighbor was located had been washed away by floodwaters. "The whole building collapsed before our eyes." He said.
September 13, 2023, local time, Drna, Libya, aerial view of the damage caused by flooding. Photo/Visual China
Last year, Abdelwanes Ashhar, a civil engineering expert at Libya's Omar Mukhtar University, published a paper raising concerns about flood risk and dam conditions in the Drna Valley basin.
He said the area was "at high risk of flooding" and that the dam "requires regular maintenance." He "asked officials to take immediate steps to carry out regular maintenance of existing dams, as the consequences of a catastrophic flood would have a catastrophic impact on the inhabitants of the valley and the city."
Observers say Libya's political turmoil has left dams and other infrastructure poorly maintained. After the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime in 2011, Libya entered a state of confrontation between the two major forces. The Government of National Unity (TNG) and the armed forces that support it control the western regions of the capital, Tripoli; The National Assembly, allied with the "National Army", controlled the eastern and central regions, the main southern cities and parts of the western cities.
Libya's government of national unity said the country's attorney general would investigate the collapse of the Derna dam and hold those responsible for the accident.
Most casualties could have been avoided if evacuated early
Hurricane Daniel in the Mediterranean reportedly brought 400 millimetres of rain to Libya's northeastern coast in 24 hours, up from 1.5 millimetres in September. Libya's National Meteorological Centre said this set a record for rainfall in the region.
Libya's National Meteorological Centre said the bureau had issued an alert 72 hours before the floods, notifying authorities via email and the media. It is unclear whether or how these warnings will be translated into action.
According to the Associated Press, a U.N. official said, "If the weather service is operating normally, they can issue a warning." Emergency management authorities could have carried out the evacuation. ”
The World Meteorological Organization said that if Libya had a functioning meteorological agency, emergency agencies, etc., it might have avoided most of the loss of life. "If emergency departments can evacuate residents in risk areas in advance, most casualties can be avoided."
Osama Ali, head of Libya's emergency relief agency, said his country was not prepared for such a disaster, and it had never experienced flooding of this magnitude before.
"We didn't study the weather very well, we didn't study the water level and rainfall, we didn't study the wind speed, we didn't evacuate the people who might be in the path of the storm and the people in the valley." He said.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said the floods in Libya highlighted the importance of early warning, which is working with the United Nations on disaster risk reduction projects to ensure that everyone receives disaster warning information through the United Nations, the International Telecommunication Union and a range of other organizations.
Beijing News reporter Chen Yikai
Edited by Chen Jing Proofread by Wu Xingfa