"Tahala" is a disaster area, there are reports of deaths, and the Meteorological Department expects extreme phenomena to occur!

The city of Ghat and some areas in the southwest of the country witnessed heavy rains that led to torrential floods, which brought back to the memory of Libyans scenes of Hurricane Daniel. What are the latest developments in the situation in the city and neighboring areas?

In this regard, he published Ambulance and emergency department, On his Facebook page, he said, “Three children died as a result of the floods in Tahala,” noting that “attempts are still underway to evacuate the elderly from the area.” Despite Ain Libya’s attempts to obtain a permit from the agency, it responded that permits are currently prohibited.

The director of the office of the mayor of Ghat, Mahmoud Muhammad, told the “Ain Libya” network: “The rain continues from time to time, and the situation inside the “Ghat” municipality is good, but after the floods reached the Tahala area from the sister country of Algeria, which is 60 km away from Ghat, we feel the danger,” noting that “the population of the “Ghat” area is 32 thousand people.”

Mahmoud considered the city of “Tahala” a disaster city, saying: “The situation in “Tahala” is very miserable and they are talking about deaths, as the houses were severely damaged and the water flooded the houses and the flood water mixed with the rain water, and it needs a lot of immediate assistance from first aid and shelter tents, especially in light of the presence of large numbers of displaced people, knowing that the population of the city is close to 8 thousand people.”

Mahmoud noted, “The situation is still dangerous in Ghat, as the cloud is still present and the floods have not stopped, and there is displacement from the valley areas towards the higher areas for fear of a repeat of the 2019 disaster.”

Mahmoud considered that “what is currently required by the crisis committee formed by the head of the Government of National Unity is medical aid, tents, and food aid,” and he stressed that “the municipality is in a state of readiness and full alert, as an emergency room has been equipped with Thuraya phones, devices, cameras, and other devices necessary for emergencies.”

He added: “The Ubari Ghat road is impassable, and the travelers were returned and those who were stranded were rescued. Communications are cut off in the area, and electricity is absent in some areas,” calling for “declaring the Tahala municipality a disaster area.”

In turn, Muhyiddin Ali, Director of the Media Office at the National Center for Meteorology, told the “Ain Libya” network, The rain has stopped now, but it will return in the evening and tomorrow evening,” he said, expecting that “the region will gradually return to stability starting on Sunday.”

He pointed out that “thunderstorms in the region contributed to the flow of valleys and their accumulation in low-lying areas in Ghat and neighboring areas.”

The Director of the Media Office at the National Center for Meteorology told the “Ain Libya” network: “We do not rule out the occurrence of extreme weather phenomena.”

In turn, Libyan meteorologist Ali Abu Khreis reassured the “Ain Libya” network, “Things are fine and the improvement will be clear in the coming hours,” stressing that the danger has passed and the weather will stabilize in the coming few days.”

“Starting yesterday, the southern regions were affected by a low-pressure system located in the southwest, extending to the southern regions, where low clouds and thunderstorms multiplied, including the central south and southwest regions, and were accompanied by rain. Before this, there was rain in the southwest, specifically in the south, the mountainous heights of Algeria, and the arrival of water in the form of valleys into the Libyan territories, and at the same time, heavy rains fell, causing torrential floods that entered the “Ghat” region,” he added.

The meteorologist continued: “Starting this evening, the gradual improvement will begin, and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow the weather will be suitable and stable.”

The meteorologist confirmed that “there is no concern or fear in the coming period for the southern regions,” noting that “these rains always occur every year in these southern regions and are either a leakage of clouds from the tropical regions to the north of the tropical region, sometimes reaching the Libyan lands and rain falls, and sometimes the rain falls south of the Libyan borders and comes to the Libyan lands through the flood authority, and this is known in every period of the summer season and the southern rains in Libya are known, starting from the month of “five, six, seven, eight and sometimes until the month of September, and everything is normal and familiar.”

It is noteworthy that on September 10, 2023, Hurricane Daniel swept through several areas in eastern Libya, leaving hundreds dead and missing, in addition to significant material damage.