There have been so many floods this summer that when Hurricane Daniel brought heavy rainfall to Libya this month, not many people realized that it would cause the worst damage. In particular, the northeastern city of Derna, which has been affected by war for many years and has poor foreign exchanges, floods have swept 4/5 of the city, and the death toll of 100,000 or even 20,000 people is as high as 10,000; The city is bordered by the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, which once made its citizens proud, but now it is the end of life for many people. And is it just hurricanes and torrential rains that are scary? What other demonic beasts were in the flood?
Part.1
Cyclone Daniel swept through eastern Libya on September 10, flooding coastal cities such as Derna, Benghazi, Sousse and Beidah. It was as if war had struck Libya again, and in an instant it was swallowed up by floods and a mess.
Victims of the Derna:
"The whole area where my aunt and cousins were was gone and it was a genocide."
The powerful floods hit Libya late at night, without warning and without a chance to flee to higher ground. For many Libyans, they are going through a terrible wait.
Libyan resident Mzzani:
In the darkness, the living stayed on the roofs, they heard the cries of people and saw the children being swept away by the flood.
Resident of Derna Mustafa Salim:
"So far, we have lost 30 people and 30 family members have not been found."
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on September 16 that the death toll from floods in Libya had risen to 11,300, with more than 10,000 missing in the Derna region alone. Libyan authorities confirmed that 150 people had been poisoned by contaminated water. The corpses were strewn all over the place, and even many could not be identified.
Doctor Najib Tahoni of Benghazi Hospital:
"Walking the streets of Derna, the smell of decaying corpses is everywhere. There were screams of women and children everywhere. ”
Libyan resident Mzzani:
"Unfortunately so far, we don't know anything about them. We don't even hope to find them alive, but only care about finding their bodies. Just want to put them in a good place, it's something we're praying for. ”
The local morgue in Derna, already filled with corpses, was overwhelmed. A large number of corpses could also attract plague. According to the United Nations, more than 1,000 people have been buried in mass graves.
Residents of Derna Abdul Washb Aiyi:
"Buildings, neighborhoods, villagers, chiefs, etc., this wadi seems to have returned to the state it was 1,000 years ago. People live in caves, and cities look lifeless, barren, and lifeless. ”
Part.2
The eastern port city of Derna was the hardest hit area, with about 100,000 people. The mayor of Derna said that depending on the extent of the damage, the number of people killed in Derna could reach 18,000 to 20,000. Located in the city of Derna, on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, people are no strangers to heavy rains. It is one of the wettest cities in all of Libya. Why is this rainstorm doomed?
On September 10, the citizens of Derna were first shocked by the rare rainfall. At a university in the city of Bada on the western side of Derna, 24-hour precipitation reached 414 mm, close to the city's average annual rainfall of about 543 mm.
Zhu Dingzhen, meteorological expert of China Meteorological Observatory:
"With this intensity of precipitation not exceeding 500 millimeters per year, it is conceivable that its own precautions cannot cope with such extreme situations."
The deadlier disaster came from a sudden dam burst in the early morning. Local residents who managed to escape recalled that at two o'clock in the morning of September 11, a loud bang suddenly hit the city, and within seconds, the water level rose rapidly, reaching a maximum of 7 meters. Everywhere the flood went, it destroyed everything. Countless people were washed into the Mediterranean.
Ahmed Mismari, spokesman for the armed "National Army" in eastern Libya:
"The collapse of the first and second dams south of Derna, causing floodwaters to flow into the city of Derna, and the three bridges completely collapsed, and the floodwaters then spread into the community. The entire community is immersed in the sea, including the residents there. ”
The city of Derna, backed by mountains and bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, runs through the city from south to north, and two dams have been built in the upper reaches of the Derna River to make rational use of this precious fresh water. Now, both dams have disappeared.
More than 20 million cubic meters of floodwater rushed out from the lower dam, located 1 km south of the city, such a short distance meant that the huge power accumulated by the flood had nowhere to dissipate and instantly engulfed the city.
About a quarter of the city of Derna in the valley was flooded after the dam burst during the storm, one of the deadliest floods in North Africa since 1927. In fact, this rare weather phenomenon was foreshadowed.
Mediterranean hurricanes generally occur in late autumn or winter, when the Mediterranean SST has dropped and its torrential rainfall is often fleeting. Moreover, the Mediterranean region is not the first choice for hurricanes. However, in 2023, the Mediterranean Sea will have SSTs of up to 28 degrees.
Zhu Dingzhen, meteorological expert of China Meteorological Observatory:
"Actually, this is a small probability. The SST in the Mediterranean Sea is usually around 22 degrees, and the standard threshold for tropical storms is above 26 degrees, so it is basically not easy to generate such tropical storms in that place, so it is called a tropical storm, because its warm structure does not reach the structure of tropical storms. For example, this year, the temperature rose to 28 degrees, so this anomaly appeared. ”
On September 10, Hurricane Daniel made landfall in Libya, deep into the Sahara Desert, a sandstorm occurred in a city, and the sky was "blood-red". The eastern Libyan city of Derna is in the dangerous semicircle to the right of Daniel, the "eye of the storm" of the tropical cyclone.
Zhu Dingzhen, meteorological expert of China Meteorological Observatory:
"For typhoons, the danger semicircle is on the right side of the typhoon, the cyclone rotates counterclockwise, it is actually the right semicircle of its cyclone, and the cloud system transports water vapor from the west into the cyclone. Precipitation in desert areas themselves is very small, but this extreme precipitation occurs because of the moisture brought by the weather system. ”
On September 4, this rare hurricane formed off the coast of southwest Greece and was named "Daniel" by the Greek National Meteorological Service. Then "Daniel" slowly moved south in the eastern Mediterranean, resulting in days of heavy rainfall in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria, killing at least 27 people. Heavy rainfall in the desert is even more destructive.
Zhu Dingzhen, meteorological expert of China Meteorological Observatory:
"Precipitation in desert climates has always been low, and areas with less precipitation have encountered heavy precipitation, especially this precipitation accompanied by continuous rotating winds, can you imagine how destructive it is? Moreover, the water retention capacity of desert areas is relatively poor. When heavy precipitation occurs, it forms floods faster than in other geologic conditions. Because of the fierce winds and sudden rain brought by tropical storms, the impact on relatively low-lying coastal areas is very large. ”
However, the disaster in the neighboring country did not attract enough serious attention from the local government. Until the disaster struck on September 10, the small city of the Mediterranean was like hell on earth.
Part.3
The flood-hit city of Derna, located in northeastern Libya, is the capital of Derna, bordering the Mediterranean Sea and located in a rich oasis, known as the "Jewel of Cyrenaica". Its unique location makes it a tourist destination.
After the disaster, some think tank scholars pointed out that the disaster of Delna's destruction was not only a "natural disaster", but also a "man-made disaster" for the long-term collapse of the governance system under the Libyan conflict. The disaster in Derna began with the division of the country. Libya's civil war erupted in 2011, and the Gaddafi regime was overthrown by opposition forces following NATO military intervention. Since then, Libya has continued to be in turmoil and armed secession.
Dong Manyuan, researcher at the China Institute of International Studies:
"When Muammar Gaddafi was in power, Libya had the highest per capita income in Africa. What does it take to be so rich? By oil. Libya had oil resources and natural gas resources, so at that time medical care was free, housing was very cheap, and even water and electricity bills were not paid. Then there was a regime change, from turmoil to civil war, from civil war to proxy war, which has not ended to this day. ”
At this stage, the UN-recognized Government of National Unity controls most of the west, including Tripoli; The eastern and central regions are mainly controlled by the National Assembly and the armed "National Army" led by Khalifa Haftar. Until 2020, the eastern and western governments were at war. Despite the fact that the two sides have now ceased, local skirmishes continue.
Dong Manyuan, researcher at the China Institute of International Studies:
"Both regimes are backed by outside forces. The eastern part is mainly supported by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. The western regime is supported by Turkey, Qatar, and Italy. Some of the established European colonial powers, such as Britain, France, and Germany, diplomatically recognized the western regimes, but in fact bet between both the eastern and western regimes. ”
Complex external interests have left the country divided for 12 years. The political turmoil experienced by the hard-hit city of Derna is even more typical. The city of Derna was once a stronghold of extremist organizations, and was repeatedly attacked by the Egyptian military. From fighting ISIS to later fighting eastern commander Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army, the city's infrastructure is on the verge of collapse.
On the one hand, political instability has affected the cooperation between the World Meteorological Service and local governments. On the other hand, the dam that put Derna into doom has long been a safety hazard, threatening the lives of 100,000 people downstream, and there have long been warnings from professionals. However, no one has done anything about urban infrastructure in a volatile situation.
Libyan resident Mzzani:
"People are very angry, especially on social media. Everyone was angry, they pointed the finger at the authorities, saying that we could have helped a lot of people, or made the result not as miserable as it is now. All the Libyan people were outraged. ”
According to a research paper published last year at Libya's Saibha University, the Derna region is more prone to flooding, with its dam reservoir causing at least five deadly floods since 1942, most recently in 2011. The two dams that failed were built about half a century ago, and the city's deputy mayor said they had not been repaired since 2002. A 2021 report by a state-owned audit firm said the dam remained unmaintained, despite the government allocating more than €2 million for it in 2012 and 2013.
Dong Manyuan, researcher at the China Institute of International Studies:
"The dam failure was the direct cause of this disaster. The dam was built in 1970 by a hydroelectric construction company in the former Yugoslavia. At that time, the former Yugoslavia and the Qaddafi regime had a good relationship, and the dam still had a certain technical life during the Gaddafi period, so there should be no big problem. But since the regime change in 2011, no one has tested the dam, and the last straw that has broken it over time is the heavy rainfall brought about by Hurricane Daniel. ”
Part.4
Residents of Derna Abdelmullah Salsukr:
"We need international agencies like the United Nations, the World Health Organization to assist our cities. We must acknowledge that our governments have done what they can, even ordinary people doing their best, but the scale of this disaster is too great. ”
On September 13, search and rescue teams from Libya's neighboring countries Egypt, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar arrived in Derna, but the huge disaster caused people to fear that the divided political situation would not only weaken the ability of the local people in Derna's city to cope with the disaster, but also adversely affect the rescue. The Central Bank of Libya is responsible for providing relief funds to the affected areas, but the Central Bank of Libya only recognizes the government of national unity in the west. How aid will be distributed through the two governments has also worried many.
Dong Manyuan, researcher at the China Institute of International Studies:
"The biggest difficulty in international relief is the confrontation between the eastern and western regimes, and the communication channels between them and various relief materials are not very smooth. Now the people are basically in a self-help mode, organized by some tribal leaders of the local Islamic Foundation. ”
In the face of devastation, the eastern and western regimes seemed to break through the rivalry of the past, put aside their old grudges, and began to deliver relief supplies to Derna. The western government sent a plane carrying 14 tons of medical equipment, body bags, and 80 doctors and nurses to the eastern affected area on 11 September. Tim Eaton, a researcher at the Royal Institute for Strategic Studies, believes that the country's willingness to cooperate at this moment is the strongest in the past decade. Haftar, the commander of the National Army who controls power in the east, also said that he would do his best to provide disaster relief.
Dong Manyuan, researcher at the China Institute of International Studies:
Now Haftar is also starting to participate in disaster relief. Because at this critical moment, he also has to save and reinvent his image, and find a moral basis for his eastern regime. I believe that the eastern regime welcomes international assistance, but it has to grasp its own principles, and this moral benefit cannot be shared with the western regime. ”
A week after torrential rains and flash floods swept through Libya, people in Derna are at risk of cholera, diarrhoea, dehydration and malnutrition. The flood-affected area of Derna was cordoned off from 16 September due to fears of a possible outbreak of infectious diseases.
Local television station in Derna reported that the mayor of Derna was suspended on September 16 pending investigation.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reminds that as tens of thousands of people are displaced, the risk of their migration coming into contact with mines and explosives left over from years of conflict is rising.
Today, while the eastern regime holds the lifeblood of Libya's economy, since 2011, Africa's richest country, once Africa's richest country, has fallen into poverty and struggled to rebuild. According to media reports, the eastern regime has pledged to contribute $2 billion, and the western regime has pledged to contribute more than $400 million for the reconstruction of the Derna region and relief for disaster victims.
Once Libya's cultural capital, the city that hosts national civilization has endured the most uncivilized and barbaric killings in the past decade. As the United Nations appealed, 900,000 people in Libya were already in need of humanitarian assistance, and another 900,000 were now affected by the floods. A flood erased many vestiges of civilization, but it also gave all factions and strata the opportunity to reunite and care for life. The flood is terrible, may humanity save a city and a nation from hell.
Producer: Song Yang
Choreographer: Hu Yuanrong
Editor: Wang Jinjie