Hurricane Daniel hit eastern Libya on September 10, causing severe flooding.
According to CCTV News reported on September 15, the Libyan Red Crescent said on the 14th that the number of victims in Derna, the most severely affected, has risen to 11,300, and more than 10,000 people are missing. The local emergency and emergency center declared on the same day that the city of Derna had entered the highest level of emergency.
11,300 people were killed and 10,100 were missing
"There are about 2,000 bodies in the sea"
On September 14, the Associated Press quoted Mary Eldres, secretary general of the Libyan Red Crescent Society, as saying that the number of victims of the Derna floods reached 11,300, and about 10,100 others were missing.
This is the scene after the floods in the eastern Libyan city of Derna on September 11. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the government appointed by the Libyan National Congress)
According to Arabia TV reported on the 14th, the local emergency and emergency center in Derna announced on the same day that the state of emergency in the city of Derna was raised to the highest level. To evacuate residents of the city of Derna, access to the city will be restricted to rescue teams. The head of the local Red Crescent Society media centre in Derna said a large number of missing people were buried in mud, rubble or washed up in the sea.
Salim Nas, Head of the Media Centre of the Drna Red Crescent Society: There are a lot of bodies in the sea, there are about 2,000 bodies in the sea. We also keep finding remains from under the rubble of houses.
Although many roads and bridges in the eastern Libyan disaster area have been washed away by floods and relief efforts have been hindered, international relief forces are now rushing to the Libyan disaster area from all directions. In addition, UN Secretary-General spokesman Dijarric said a few days ago that the UN team in Libya is mobilizing resources and emergency response teams on the ground to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to the people in the disaster area. On the 14th, the World Health Organization announced an emergency allocation of 2 million US dollars to the Libyan disaster area, and launched the emergency medical team network, and a batch of 28 tons of medical and emergency supplies will arrive in the Libyan disaster area on the 15th. The World Food Programme said it would deliver food to the affected areas in northeastern Libya after a full assessment.
Libyan dam collapses: people flee death
Life and death are uncertain
Hurricane "Daniel" made landfall on the Mediterranean coast of eastern Libya on the 10th and caused flooding, because two dams upstream of the city of Derna collapsed at night, the ferocious flooding caused great damage to the city of Derna, a large number of local residents were washed away by the flood in their sleep, and many people were unaccounted for or even lost their lives. A local resident recounted the thrilling moment his daughter experienced when the floods came.
Local resident Khalid: I was not there at the time, it was my daughter who told me what happened when the flood came, she lived near the dam, and when the dam in the valley was washed away by the flood, her husband put her on top of the closet, she clinged to the closet, while her husband grabbed the chandelier and the flood went through their house. When the flood passed, they came out and my other daughter was on the second floor at the time, she ran to the roof, and because she ran to the roof, she and her children survived, and that's what happened.
Khalid's friends may not have been as lucky in the flood than relatives. Khalid said many people remain unaccounted for after the floods.
Local resident Khalid: What a disaster, almost all my friends were killed, I had a friend who started filming a video above the valley and he died. I have a friend named Nasir who is said to have died with his child, but these are all rumors because they cannot be confirmed. There was also a friend and his five children, and only one was left to join us.
United Nations World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Talas said on the 14th local time that since the collapse of the Gaddafi regime, Libya has been in a state of unorganized chaos. If meteorological services could issue warnings and emergency management agencies could evacuate people early, mass casualties could be avoided.
Scientific studies published last year reportedly showed that the city of Derna, in an arid valley, is threatened by frequent flooding. At the time, researchers called for immediate measures to ensure regular maintenance of dams in the area, warning of the consequences of massive rainstorms that would be disastrous for the residents of the valley and the city.
Libyan National Unity Government Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Debaiba said on the 14th that the two dams that collapsed have not been maintained for a long time. Manfi, chairman of Libya's presidential commission, said the council had instructed the prosecutor-general to investigate the dam collapse. Manfi said those responsible for the dam's collapse and those who obstructed the rescue would be held accountable.
Why was eastern Libya so badly affected?
Due to the record heat in Europe this summer, the sea temperature in the Mediterranean is very high, and the storm over Greece absorbed a large amount of warm water vapor as it traveled south across the Mediterranean, and evolved into Mediterranean hurricane Daniel. On the 10th, "Daniel" landed on the Mediterranean coast of eastern Libya.
In the early morning of the 11th, the first dam upstream of the city of Derna collapsed, and a tsunami-like flood poured down the valley of the Derna River and rushed towards the city of Derna. At about 2:30 a.m. on the 11th, residents of the city of Derna heard a loud noise, probably the sound of the collapse of the second dam. In the blink of an eye, a quarter of the city of Derna was flooded.
Residential areas, highways, bridges, ports... Everywhere the flood went, it destroyed everything.
Residents of Derna: It started raining around 9 p.m. the day before (10th), and at 2 a.m. the next day (11th), I was at home, my house was on the 3rd floor, and the flood came and washed away all the cars on the road.
Resident of the city of Derna: It was a disaster. My sister, her son, daughter, and granddaughter, and a family of 11 were killed.
Some French media analyzed that the deadly flooding brought by Hurricane Daniel to Libya has sounded the alarm for climate change and the dangerous situation of lack of maintenance of old infrastructure in the context of climate change.
The city of Derna is located in a river valley and has a low terrain. Due to years of war, there is no unified central government management, the local infrastructure is old, and the flood control and flood resistance capacity is weak. At the time of the incident, there was neither a flood warning system nor an evacuation emergency plan. In Libya, the consequences of the floods were particularly severe due to global warming, desertification and rising sea levels.
Shirley Sitbon, science and technology correspondent for France 24: The situation in Libya is that a lot of coastlines, these low-lying areas are densely populated settlements, and the people who live there are at risk. It's also very hot, we know global warming, there's a lot of desertification in Libya, where temperatures reached 50 degrees Celsius last summer, deforestation, rising sea levels, erosion of coastlines. The soil there is very dry, so when it rains and floods, the disaster is even worse.
In addition to the collapse of the Derna dam this time, there have been cases of dams being washed away by floods in other parts of the world, such as the United States and Indonesia. In the face of climate change, countries and regions need to better adapt to changing conditions in the face of climate change.
Source: Daily Economic News Comprehensive from CCTV News, Xinhua News Agency