2023-09-12 00:17:49
Storm Daniel continues its deadly path. Floods caused by torrential rains have left at least 150 dead in eastern Libya, hit in turn by this storm after Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria, an official source said on Monday.
Speaking on the Libyan channel Almasar, the head of the executive in eastern Libya, Osama Hamad, put forward the figures of “more than 2,000 dead and thousands missing” in the city of Derna alone, but no medical or emergency service source has confirmed this toll. If the eastern Libyan media widely reported Osama Hamad’s statements, the separate reports they reported from different localities were much lower than the figures he put forward.
“At least 150 people were killed due to flooding caused by Storm Daniel in Derna, Jabal Al-Akhdar areas and Al-Marj suburbs,” Mohamed Massoud, the leader’s spokesperson, said earlier. of the eastern executive. The storm also caused “significant material damage to infrastructure and private property,” the Libyan spokesperson added.
Buildings swept away
Described by experts as an “extreme phenomenon in terms of the amount of water that has fallen”, the storm called Daniel has also hit Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria in recent days, killing at least 27 people. It affected eastern Libya on Sunday afternoon, notably the coastal towns of Jabal al-Akhdar (north-east) but also Benghazi where a curfew was declared and schools closed. The region had already been affected by torrential rains for several days.
The east of the country is home to the main oil fields and terminals. The National Petroleum Company (NOC) has decreed “a state of maximum alert” and “suspended flights” between production sites where activity has been drastically reduced.
Rescue teams were dispatched on Sunday to Derna, a town located 900 km east of Tripoli and 300 km east of Benghazi. With a population of more than 100,000 inhabitants, the coastal town is crossed by a wadi which flows into the Mediterranean and which overflowed due to the storm for around fifty meters on each side, carrying away buildings and houses in its path, according to videos broadcast by the media.
Hundreds of residents stranded
Earlier Monday, before going there with his ministers, Osama Hamad declared Derna a “disaster city”. Hundreds of residents are still stranded there in hard-to-reach areas while rescue teams, backed by the army, are trying to come to their aid.
The city of Derna in eastern Libya has been declared a disaster zone after Medicane Daniel caused catastrophic flash flooding across the area overnight. Many residential buildings have been destroyed along the riverbanks. I fear we might be facing a mass casualty event. pic.twitter.com/QoVp8vzjpp
— Nahel Belgherze (@WxNB_) September 11, 2023
A Derna city council official described the situation in his city as “catastrophic”, “out of control” and requiring “national and international intervention”, in statements to the local channel Libya al-Ahrar.
On Monday evening, Presidential Council (PC) head Mohamad al-Manfi called for “help from brotherly and friendly countries and international organizations” and officially declared the eastern towns of Derna, Shahat and al-Bayda Libya a “disaster zone”, according to a statement on Facebook. He reported the collapse of four main bridges and two buildings as well as the city’s two dams.
Three days of national mourning
During an extraordinary Council of Ministers broadcast live on television on Monday, interim Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah announced “three days of national mourning”, emphasizing “the unity of all Libyans” in the face of this catastrophe. The UN mission in Libya said it was “closely following the emergency situation (…) in the eastern region of the country”, expressing its solidarity with the families of the victims, in a message published on X (formerly Twitter) .
My solidarity with the Libyan people who are suffering terrible floods. France presents its condolences to the families of the victims and is mobilizing resources to provide emergency aid.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 11, 2023
French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed on X his “solidarity with the Libyan people who are suffering terrible floods”.
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