About 2,000 people have lost their lives and many more are missing following Storm Daniel. The storm caused a large amount of rainfall in Libya‘s northeast, which led to the collapse of two dams. This caused water to flow into areas that were already flooded.
Othman Abduljalil, who is the health minister in Libya’s government supported by the parliament in the east, visited the city of Derna on Monday. He described some areas of Derna as a “ghost town. “
Abduljalil said that the situation in Derna was very bad. Dead bodies are still in many places.
“Some families are still trapped in their houses and there are people buried under destroyed buildings. I think some people may have been carried away by the sea, and tomorrow morning we will find many of them,” he said.
Around 6,000 people are currently unaccounted for in Derna, according to Abduljalil. However, this is just one area that has been impacted by flooding in multiple cities located near the Mediterranean Sea in the country’s northeast.
There are worries that giving help might be made difficult by political disagreements in the country. This country has had a long-lasting fight for control between two different governments – one in the east and the other in the west.
The heavy rain happened because of a strong low-pressure system. It caused a lot of flooding in Greece and then moved into the Mediterranean Sea. It turned into a tropical-like cyclone called a medicane. The weather system is like storms in the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.
According to a message on social media, on Monday, the Red Crescent Society of Libya said that over 300 people have died in Derna.
Ahmed Mismari, who speaks for the Libyan National Army in the eastern part of Libya, said that two dams broke due to flooding.
As a result, three bridges were broken. The water moved quickly and washed away whole neighborhoods, then left them in the ocean,” he said.
The leader of Libya’s Emergency and Ambulance authority, Osama Aly, told CNN that when the dam broke, all the water flowed towards a place close to Derna, which is a hilly region near the coast.
The strong muddy currents washed away houses in valleys and also carried vehicles and debris. The phone lines in the city are not working, which is making it harder to rescue people. Aly said that the workers cannot go into Derna because there is a lot of damage there.
Aly said that the people in charge didn’t expect the disaster to be so big.
Aly said that the weather conditions were not well looked into. They did not study the levels of seawater, amount of rainfall, or wind speeds. They also did not evacuate families who could be affected by the storm and living in valleys.
Libya was not ready for a big disaster like that. It has never seen such a disastrous event before. We acknowledge that there were mistakes, even though this is the first time we have experienced such a major disaster,” Aly said in an interview with Al Hurra channel.
Mismari, who speaks for the LNA, said that many cities have been affected by the floods. These include Al-Bayda, Al-Marj, Tobruk, Takenis, Al-Bayada, and Battah. The floods have also caused damage along the eastern coast all the way to Benghazi.
Libya is a country with six million people. It has been divided into groups that are fighting against each other since 2014, after a rebellion supported by NATO in 2011 to remove Moammar Gadhafi from power.
There is still a disagreement between rival governments in the city of Benghazi and the capital city Tripoli. Abdulhamid Dbeibeh leads the government of National Unity (GNU) that has the support of the United Nations. They are in charge in the capital city. On the other hand, Khalifa Haftar controls the eastern part of the country along with his Libyan National Army (LNA). They support the parliament led by Osama Hamad, which is based in the east.
Derna, a city that is about 300 kilometers (190 miles) away from Benghazi, is currently governed by Haftar and his administration in the eastern region.
According to a report from Libyan News Agency (LANA), Hamad referred to the situation as “terrible and never seen before. “
Videos posted on social media showed cars underwater, buildings that had fallen down, and a lot of water flowing through the streets.
The hospitals in the eastern city of Bayda were emptied because of heavy rain that caused flooding, as shown in videos posted on Facebook by the Medical Center of Bayda.
The United Nations in Libya is keeping a close eye on the emergency situation caused by bad weather in the eastern region of the country, according to a post by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya on X.
Many countries have sent their sympathies and help to Libya as rescue teams rush to find people alive under the collapsed buildings and wreckage.
On Tuesday, Turkey’s Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) reported that Turkish planes carrying aid for people in need have arrived in Libya.
The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced that Turkey will be sending 168 teams to help find and rescue people in Benghazi. They will also be providing aid to help with the situation. The news was reported by the state-run news agency, Anadoulu Agency, on Tuesday.
The US Embassy in Libya said on a social media platform called Twitter that they were talking to the United Nations and Libya’s government to figure out how to quickly provide help where it is most needed.
The President of the United Arab Emirates, Zayed Al Nahyan, has ordered help and rescue teams to be sent to the affected area. He also expressed his sympathy to those affected by the tragedy, according to the state news agency.
Egypt’s President, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, expressed his sympathy to Libya. El-Sisi said on social media that he hopes the injured people get better soon and wants the crisis in Libya to end quickly with everyone coming together in unity.
The weather system will slowly move to the east and head towards the northern part of Egypt. Rainfall in the next two days might be 50mm, which is a lot compared to the usual 10mm in September.