As many as 20,000 people may have died after raging floods swept through eastern Libya, according to the BBC.
The United Nations says the North African country is experiencing a "once-in-a-century catastrophe", but does it have to be like this?
Once one of Africa's most prosperous countries, years of anarchy have left it a fragile, divided country ill-prepared to unleash forces in response to natural disasters.
The extreme rainfall that hit Libya was brought by a system called Storm Daniel. （Derna flooding）
The vast majority of deaths from the floods occurred in Delna, a city that symbolized Libya's collapse. The region has received little investment for decades, and a government minister in the region acknowledged that one of the failed dams had not been maintained "for some time."
The U.N. World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Thursday that most of the casualties and property damage caused by Libya's catastrophic flooding could have been avoided if early warning and emergency management systems had been in place.
According to Russia Today, World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petri Talas told reporters in Geneva that "emergency management could have evacuated people." We could have avoided most of the casualties."
Relief efforts in Delna are intensifying. Deirna Mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi said as many as 20,000 people could have died.
According to the ICRC, when a 7-metre wave hit the city, buildings, homes and infrastructure were "razed to the ground". The commission said Thursday that bodies were now washing ashore.
In addition to the severe storm itself, Libya's disaster greatly exacerbated lethal factors, including an ageing, dilapidated infrastructure, inadequate warnings and a confluence of effects from an accelerated climate crisis, experts said.
Dalena's political divisions allegedly complicated the rescue operation. Since Gaddafi was toppled in a NATO-backed intervention in 2011, Libya has been divided between the two regimes.
The oil-rich country used to have one of the highest living standards in Africa, offering free healthcare and free education.
Since the fall of Gaddafi, Libya has been divided between two rival governments, mired in clashes between numerous different militias.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah leads a UN-backed government of national unity in the western capital, Tripoli.
Another rival government is responsible for eastern Libya, including the areas most affected by the floods. It also controls many southern regions, which are mostly uninhabited deserts.
The day before the storm hit Libya, some areas around the dam should have been evacuated. However, an emergency committee composed of the interior ministry of the eastern regime ordered a curfew.
Osama Hamad is prime minister of the eastern regime, based in the port city of Tobruk, 1,000 kilometers from Tripoli.
However, many believe that power there is actually in the hands of military strongman General Khalifa Haftar, who leads a powerful militia, the Libyan National Army, and allied with Egypt, the UAE and Russia.
Until 2020, both sides were engaged in a full-scale war, and General Haftar's forces tried to capture Tripoli, but were thwarted with the help of Turkey.
It is difficult for two feuding governments to respond to disasters in a swift and coordinated manner.
Obviously, the catastrophe in Libya is a natural disaster and a man-made disaster. NATO, led by the United States, is to blame. Twelve years ago, NATO bombed Libya 7,700 times in seven months, triggering an internal conflict. They destabilized the country and exacerbated the flooding by destroying the water infrastructure built by Gaddafi.
Speaking at Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday, Blinken said, "The post-Cold War era has ushered in remarkable progress." More than 1 billion people have been lifted out of poverty. Historic lows in interstate conflicts. Deadly diseases have been reduced or even eradicated. "In this world, every country can choose its own path and partners." This is complete nonsense. Libya is a living example.
The American magazine "National Interest" told the truth, today Libya is not a story of democratic success, but Somalia in the Mediterranean. It turns out that Western democracy promoted under the bayonet of the United States is nothing more than illusory opium. The warmongers Obama, Clinton and Sarkozy bear primary responsibility for Libya's destruction.