Storm Daniel brought heavy rains that caused disaster in eastern Libya; Pope prays for dead and injured
By the Editor, with Holy See Bulletin and Vatican News
Destruction after Hurricane Daniel in Libya /Photo: Portal Julio Cesar Chavez
Pope Francis was saddened to receive the news of the severe flooding in Libya caused by torrential rain. This is one of the effects of Hurricane Daniel, which caused a real disaster in the east of the country, especially in Derna, literally flooded with water. Estimates put at least two thousand dead and ten thousand missing.
The message, signed by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was sent to the Apostolic Nuncio to Libya, Dom Savio Hon TaiFai, and was published this Tuesday 12th. The cardinal expresses the Pope’s pain at the deaths and destruction caused in the country.
“He [o Papa] assures his prayers for the souls of the departed and those who mourn their losses. His Holiness also expresses his spiritual closeness to the injured, to those who fear for their missing loved ones, and to the emergency teams providing rescue and assistance.”
The tragedy
To make matters worse, two dams collapsed at the same time. The storm, described by experts as an extreme phenomenon due to the amount of water, had also hit Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria in the previous days and, in addition to causing destruction, killed at least 27 people.
After losing intensity, the storm regained strength as it reached Libya, with winds of 180 km/h and rainfall between 50 and 250 mm, according to the Arab Regional Meteorological Center. This led to flooding in a huge area from Benghazi to El Beida. According to the Libyan National Meteorological Center, the storm is expected to move increasingly eastward, around the Jaghbub areas, and reach regions bordering Egypt.
The head of Libya’s Presidential Council, Muhammad Manfi, declared several provinces in the northeastern region of Cyrenaica a “disaster area” and called on the international community to provide humanitarian assistance.
Al Manfi said he had already contacted countries such as Spain and Italy to coordinate their support, and oil majors Total (France) and Eni (Italy) had committed to providing three aircraft to the Benghazi government on Tuesday . Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Qatar offered assistance.
The Red Crescent announced the deaths of three of its members during rescue operations in Derna. The lack of resources and difficult access to these mountainous areas forced rescue teams and citizens to pull victims out of the rubble with household items and bury them in mass graves in the Martouba cemetery, some twenty kilometers away, which have so far contained 350 bodies.
Humanitarian aid
An air bridge was also created between the capital Tripoli and the eastern region to transport the most seriously injured, and national airline Afriqiya Airways offered free flights to transport medical personnel and humanitarian workers.
Tripolibased Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GUN), Abdulhamid Debiba, promised that the state would compensate all those affected by the floods and ordered three days of mourning for the victims and an order for flags to be flown at halfmast across the country be provided.
For its part, the parliamentbacked and Benghazibased parallel executive declared this Sunday and Monday a holiday in all public institutions and schools with the exception of security forces, doctors and essential professionals in the Cyrenaica region, which is under its control.
The United Nations Mission in Libya (Unsmil) said in a statement that it was closely monitoring the emergency situation and stood ready to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to complement national and local efforts.