On September 10, 2023, Hurricane Daniel ravaged eastern Libya, triggering one of the deadliest floods in North Africa since 1927. The Libyan Red Crescent said on the 14th that more than 11,000 people were killed and 20,000 were missing. There are many reasons behind the severity of the floods, which is also a grim warning.
"Daniel" is fierce
Hurricane Daniel originated in Greece and killed many people in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria. It then turned to eastern Libya, bringing catastrophic rainfall. Part of what made Libya's flooding so severe was the country's lack of infrastructure and contingency plans to cope with heavy rainfall.
"Hurricane of the Mediterranean"
The hurricane took on the characteristics of a "Mediterranean hurricane" during its movement, but this is not common in the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean has low SSTs and is often difficult to support the formation of tropical cyclones, so such storms are relatively rare in the region. However, this time Daniel has some characteristics of a tropical storm, making it a rare phenomenon in the Mediterranean.
The reason why Libya was severely affected
Part of the reason Libya was so badly affected was that the country's low terrain makes it easy for flooding to inundate residential areas. In addition, Libya's protracted political conflict has led to the collapse of governance systems, infrastructure that has not been maintained, and a lack of flood warning systems and relief plans. Experts had warned of the risk of failure at two dams upstream of Derna, but they were not dealt with in a timely manner.
Climate change and fragile states
In the context of global warming, climate degradation may bring more disasters to fragile countries. Climate change poses a serious threat to countries like Libya. Climate change is therefore not just a scientific and environmental issue, but also a political and social issue that requires global cooperation.
Alerts for the future
The floods in Libya remind us of the need to focus not only on the impact of climate change on the natural environment, but also on factors such as political stability, infrastructure development and crisis management. Political instability and corruption can weaken a country's resilience, so political stability and good governance are also crucial.
In short, the floods in Libya are a multifaceted problem, not only climatic factors, but also political, social, infrastructure and other factors. This catastrophic flood should be the focus of global attention in order to draw lessons from it and provide lessons for better response to similar events in the future.