According to the Associated Press local time on September 15, in the hardest-hit eastern coastal city of Derna, Libya, as rescue efforts continue, the number of victims has climbed to 11,300, an increase of more than 5,000 from the last announced death. At least 10,000 others are missing and at least 30,000 have been displaced.
In the late evening of September 10, local time, Hurricane Daniel in the Mediterranean caused floods and hit many cities on the eastern coast of Libya.
Experts from the International Institute for Climate and Society at the Colombian Climate Institute say that once or twice a year between September and January, storms occur in the Mediterranean, which are usually not real hurricanes, but can reach hurricane intensity in rare cases.
"Daniel" had formed a week ago and had already caused heavy rainfall in Greece and the surrounding area before invading Libya.
Heavy rainfall from Hurricane Hai reportedly washed away two dams in Derna, eventually causing the dam to fail early on 11 September. Many of the local survivors said they heard a loud popping sound when the dam broke.
Satellite photos show that the coastal road in Derna was washed off before the floods (1 July) and after the floods (13 September). Near the coastline, shallow waters are noticeably brown.
The area on both sides of the river in the city of Derna was badly damaged, and the gray buildings and green vegetation on both sides disappeared into the brown sediment.
Roads, bridges and other infrastructure structures in the city of Derna were destroyed. Because of traffic obstacles, aid began to pour into Derna on 12 September.
Rescuers say many of the bodies washed up into the sea have returned to shore with the tide.
The United Nations World Meteorological Organization said on September 14 that if Libya, a divided country, had a functioning meteorological service, the floods would not have caused such heavy casualties, and the vast majority of casualties could have been avoided.
According to the group, the misfortune that befell the North African country demonstrates "the devastating and knock-on effects of extreme weather on fragile states... If they have a functioning weather service, they can issue early warnings. Emergency management could have evacuated people. We could have avoided most of the casualties. ”
The group noted in a statement that while Libya's National Meteorological Centre did issue early warnings for heavy precipitation and flooding, they did not mention "the risks posed by aging dams."
The Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, Petteri Taalas (Finnish, Ph.D. in meteorology), said: "The country's disaster management and response mechanisms are fragmented, and the deteriorating infrastructure is exacerbating the magnitude of the challenge. As we are currently seeing in many countries, the political situation is a driver of risk. ”
Libya's National Meteorological Centre also faces "chronic" staffing shortages and poorly functioning information technology systems, and while the center is trying to make a difference, its capacity is limited and "disaster management and governance as a whole is in disarray," Talas said.
Why is Libya chaotic? To sum it up in one sentence: NATO is cool, Libya is miserable.
In 2011, the US-led NATO military overthrew Gaddafi's rule in Libya, and although the arrogant Gaddafi ascended to heaven, Libya was fragmented, armed groups were numerous, extremist terrorist activities were frequent, and multinational forces encroached on Libya.
After the Libyan civil war in 2014, Libya had two governments, eastern and western, backed by different international forces.
In the past, there were disasters followed by natural disasters, and now Libya can be described as chaotic and miserable.
Indeed, as UN WMO Secretary-General Talas has said, "as we are currently seeing in many countries, the political situation is a driver of risk".
But why has Libya's political situation been chaotic for more than a decade?
At that time, the United States led many NATO countries to send troops to Libya to launch a war, just like the 1999 Kosovo war and the 2003 Iraq war, the United Nations did not agree, and in the end only showed that it was powerless.