1 of 2 An overview of the city of Derna this Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Mediterranean Storm Daniel caused devastating flooding in Libya, breaching dams and sweeping away entire neighborhoods in several coastal cities Photo: AP Photo/Jamal Alkomaty A general view of Die City of Derna this Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Mediterranean storm Daniel caused devastating floods in Libya, breaching dams and sweeping away entire neighborhoods in several coastal cities Photo: AP Photo/Jamal Alkomaty
The death toll from floods in Libya is more than 1,500 in one town alone, a minister visiting the eastern port of Derna told the BBC.
“I was shocked by what I saw, it’s like a tsunami,” said Hisham Chkiouat of the government that controls eastern Libya.
Much of Derna, home to around 100,000 people, is under water after two dams and four bridges collapsed.
According to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), there are records that up to 10,000 people are missing following flooding caused by Storm Daniel.
The cities of Benghazi, Soussa and AlMarj were also affected by the storm, which hit the country on Sunday (September 10).
Chkiouat, aviation minister and member of the local government emergency committee, told the BBC that the collapse of one of the dams south of Derna had swept much of the city into the sea.
“A huge quarter has been destroyed there is a huge number of victims, which is increasing every hour.”
“There are currently 1,500 deaths. More than 2,000 missing people. We don’t have exact numbers, but it is a disaster,” he said, adding that “the dam that broke has not been maintained for some time.”
2 of 2 Libya storm map — Photo: g1 Libya storm map — Photo: g1
Ahead of the storm, authorities in Derna imposed an overnight curfew on Sunday and urged people not to leave their homes as a precautionary measure.
Hydraulic engineering experts told the BBC it was likely that the upper dam, about 12km from the city, failed first its water flowing down the river valley towards the second dam, estimated to be about a kilometer from the site of the lower one Part of Derna where neighborhoods were flooded.
Raja Sassi, who survived with his wife and young daughter, told Portal: “At first we thought it was heavy rain, but at midnight we heard a huge explosion and the dam burst.”
Tunisiabased Libyan journalist Noura Eljerbi told the BBC she only found out that about 35 of her family members living in the same block of flats in Derna were still alive after she called a local rescue team.
“The house was destroyed but my family managed to escape before it got any worse. They are safe now,” she says, still waiting to speak directly to her relatives.
Chkiouat had previously told Portal that a quarter of the city had disappeared.
Tamer Ramadan, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Libya, told reporters the death toll was likely “huge.”
Speaking via video call from neighboring Tunisia, he said: “Our teams on the ground are still making their assessment… we don’t have a firm number at the moment. The number of missing people so far is 10,000.”
BBC Climate notes that Bayda, a town about 165km west of Derna, recorded 414mm of rain in 24 hours during Storm Daniel. According to Climatedata.org, September is typically a dry month in northeastern Libya, and recent rainfall accounts for 77% of the average annual rainfall in Bayda.
In addition to the eastern areas, Misrata in the west was also among the cities affected by the floods.
Political chaos has reigned in Libya since longtime ruler Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in 2011. That has left the oilrich country divided, with an internationally recognized interim government operating from the capital Tripoli and another in the east.
According to Libyan journalist Abdulkader Assad, this situation complicates rescue efforts as the various authorities are unable to respond quickly to a natural disaster.
“There are no rescue teams, there are no trained rescue teams in Libya. “The last 12 years have been all about war,” he told the BBC.
“There are two governments in Libya… and that actually delays the arrival of aid in Libya because it’s a bit confusing. There are people who promise help, but the help doesn’t arrive.”
Chkiouat said help was on the way and the eastern administration would accept help from the Tripoli government, which had sent a plane carrying 14 tons of medical supplies, body bags and more than 80 doctors and paramedics.
US special envoy to Libya Richard Norland said Washington would send aid to eastern Libya in coordination with UN partners and local authorities.
Egypt, Germany, Iran, Italy, Qatar and Turkey are among the countries that say they have sent aid or are ready to send aid.
Derna, about 250 km east of Benghazi on the coast, is surrounded by hills and is close to the fertile Jabal Akhdar region.
The city is where militants from the Islamic State group established a presence in Libya following the fall of Gaddafi. They were driven out a few years later by the Libyan National Army (LNA), a force loyal to General Khalifa Haftar, an ally of the eastern government.
1 of 9 A general view of the city of Derna this Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Mediterranean Storm Daniel caused devastating flooding in Libya, breaching dams and sweeping away entire neighborhoods in several coastal cities Photo: AP Photo/Jamal Alkomaty 2 of 9 Destruction in the city of Derna, Libya, after severe flooding Photo: Government of Libya via AP 3 of 9 The Red Crescent team works amid flooding after a storm in the city of Al Bayda, Libya, on September 11, 2023 Photo: Red Crescent/AFP 4 of 9 Photo shows collapsed road after flooding in Libya on September 11, 2023 Photo: Government of Libya via Associated Press 5 of 9 Destruction in the city of Derna, Libya, on September 12, 2023 Photo: Esam Omran Al Fetori/Portal 6 of 9 bodies in front of a hospital in the city of Derna, Libya, on September 12, 2023 — Photo: Esam Omran AlFetori/Portal 7 of 9 Mass grave with dead in Libya, on September 12, 2023 — Photo: Ayman AlSahili/Portal 8 of 9 flood victims buried in mass grave in the city of Derna, Libya — Photo: Ayman AlSahili/Portal 9 of 9 bodies of victims in the city of Derna, Libya — Photo: Ayman AlSahili/Portal
View images of the flood that hit the city of Derna
The powerful general said eastern authorities were assessing flood damage so roads could be rebuilt and power restored to aid rescue efforts.
“All official bodies, especially the Libyan Central Bank, should provide the muchneeded financial support so that the executors can do their work and continue the reconstruction,” he said in a televised address, according to Portal.
Libya’s main news website AlWasat suggests that the failure to properly rebuild and maintain infrastructure in Derna after years of conflict is partly responsible for the high death toll.
“Security chaos and the Libyan authorities’ negligence in closely monitoring security measures.” [das barragens] “That led to catastrophe,” said economic expert Mohammed Ahmed.
The extratropical cyclone that struck Libya is known as Medicane