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A flood swept through Libya, as of the 13th local time, the Ministry of the Interior of the eastern Libyan region said that the death toll in the hard-hit Mediterranean city of Derna has reached more than 5,300 people, and 10,000 people are missing. Based on the number of areas destroyed by the floods, the mayor of Derna, Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, estimates the death toll to reach 20,000. The North African country has been divided since civil war erupted between rival governments in western and eastern Libya in 2014, and divisions remain even as the war ends in 2020. Drna has been controlled by extremist groups for years, and the Libyan National Congress government, fearing a resurgence of extremism in the region, has been reluctant to invest in roads and public services, and has little oversight of dams. Even after the floods, the government has not yet clarified how to provide assistance to Derna. "This disaster is written all over people's hands and stained with their blood." Anas El Gomati, director of the Sadik Institute in Tripoli, said.
How serious is the situation in Derna?
Located in northeastern Libya, at the mouth of the Derna River, Derna has been affected by seasonal flooding of the Derna. On the evening of the 10th local time, Hurricane Daniel hit Derna, with strong winds of 70 to 80 kilometers per hour, causing urban communications to be interrupted, trees to fall, and torrential rain to cause flash floods. From satellite footage, it can be seen that the Derna was extensively washed and damaged by flooding, the Derna River was widened several times under the impact of the current, houses collapsed, and the city was muddy. The dam was breached by torrents, two dams burst their embankments, and the raging floodwaters washed away residential areas, and a large number of unprepared and resistant citizens were washed away along with debris of buildings.
Hichem Chkiouat, the "Minister of Civil Aviation" of the Libyan National Congress government, said that among the flood-hit cities in the northeast, the situation in Derna was the worst, "as if the end of the world was coming", with corpses strewn all over the sea, valleys and under buildings. Al Jazeera's reporter Mabrooka Elmesmary said on the 12th local time: "There is no water, no electricity, no gasoline. The city has been razed to the ground. ”
The streets were littered with clothes, toys, furniture and other items washed away by the floods. The streets were covered in thick mud, scattered with uprooted trees and hundreds of destroyed cars. As can be seen from the video, many of these cars rolled over or rolled over to the roof, or even got stuck on the balconies of destroyed buildings.
Rescue teams from Egypt, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey arrived in Derna. Mayor Getty expressed the urgent need for the team responsible for salvaging the bodies, "I am concerned that the city will become infected with an epidemic due to the large number of corpses under the rubble and in the water". The World Food Programme said on the 13th that it had distributed the first batch of food aid to Libya after the floods and planned to expand the assistance to more than 5,000 families in the coming days. In addition, more than 2,000 people who fled from Derna to Benghazi have received food, and distribution is ongoing.
Ten years of turmoil left Libya unprepared
"When the climate crisis hits a volatile country, it ends up like the one in Derna." The Guardian commented.
The heavy toll caused by the floods is linked to the unrest in Libya. In 2011, Muammar Gaddafi's rule was overthrown, and the Libyan regime was divided, partly under the international recognition of the capital Tripoli; The other is the Libyan National Army, and the regime of Khalifa Haftar, its long-time militia commander, which runs the eastern independent region, including Drna.
Over the past 10 years, Libya has gone through war after war, political crisis after political crisis, and there has been virtually no effective investment in infrastructure. In 2020, a full-scale war broke out between two rival regimes in Libya, and Haftar's army tried to besiege the capital Tripoli, conducting a 1-year military operation, which ended in defeat with thousands of deaths. In February 2022, Libya's eastern National Assembly voted to form a new interim government, which was opposed by the internationally recognized prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeiba, who refused to step down. However, the National Assembly went ahead with the formation of a new government, appointing former Home Minister Fathi Bashagha as the new prime minister. As Bashar tried to move power to the capital, clashes with rival militias forced him to withdraw. "The political situation has not been resolved, and Libya is such a bad environment that is not suitable for infrastructure investment." The Guardian commented.
In the case of Derna, its infrastructure has been imperfect, whether controlled by the Libyan National Army or occupied by the forces of the National Assembly. Two large dams built in a narrow valley above Derna, built by a Yugoslav company in the 1970s, collapsed in the floods, and an audit report circulating online showed that the funds set aside by the government for the dam project were not fully utilized. Some experts have predicted that once floods inundate the first dam, they will quickly accumulate behind the second dam, causing the second dam to burst as well, and poor-quality houses built close to the river will not escape the fate of being washed away.
In addition, the negligence of the local government in the disaster is also one of the reasons for the tragedy. On September 9, the Derna City Council warned residents on Facebook: "Due to thunderstorms, heavy rains and rising sea levels, all citizens must be cautious, especially those close to the coast." Residents are not allowed to go out unless necessary. "The curfew began at 10 p.m. that night and the local government evacuated certain town residents. However, Osama Aly, a spokesman for Libya's emergency and ambulance service, said authorities had been negligent in dealing with the possible damage caused by the storm and flooding and "did not evacuate families in the storm's path and valley." Ali also added: "Libya is not prepared for such a catastrophe. We acknowledge the flaws, even though this is the first time we have faced a disaster of this magnitude. ”
Analysts and some rescue workers say the work of the eastern government's National Convention is inefficient. "For the past decade, these people, the incompetence of these political elites, have allowed them to cling to power instead of returning the right to vote to Libyans." Gomati said.
News and image sources: The Guardian, CNN, Al Jazeera, The New York Times, some images from the Internet
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