Libya fears a spiraling death toll from devastating storm floods

After a strong storm stormed across the Libya’s rugged terrains and coastline, Libyan officials believe at least hundreds of people have dead and thousands are feared missing in the eastern region of the country. Two dams were demolished by the storm, which also released a flood of swiftly moving, muddy water that swept entire families, homes, and structures away.

Ahmed al-Mismari, a spokesman for the Libyan National Army, reported late Monday that thousands of people were still unaccounted for in the city of Derna alone, where more than 2,000 people had died from floodwaters after Storm Daniel made landfall on Sunday. The eastern Libyan health minister was quoted by the Associated Press as claiming that more than 1,000 dead had already been recovered.

Since many locations are difficult for Libyan officials to access, it is difficult to determine the precise number of dead or missing, and estimates vary greatly.

The corpses are being recovered by local emergency personnel, including soldiers, government employees, volunteers, and locals. To recover bodies from the water, some people have used inflatable boats.

For aid coming from overseas, the regional capital Benghazi has developed into a center.

The military chief of staff of Egypt, which shares an eastern border with Libya, arrived to assess the situation and coordinate relief efforts. Egypt also sent military troops and helicopters. In addition, Egypt is sending another jet for medical evacuations, three planes with food and medical supplies, 25 rescue teams, and equipment.

The United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, and Algeria all pledged support for search and rescue operations.

Entire families have died

The residents who evacuated Derna and the afflicted districts did so without anything, just as if they had just been born. Everything they owned is gone, claimed al-Mismari. There are people who have lost their entire families or pieces of them.

According to Dax Roque, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s country director for Libya, tens of thousands of people are homeless and have been displaced by the storm in various areas of eastern Libya.

Storm Daniel, which intensified as it traversed the Mediterranean before hitting Libya over the weekend, looks to have slammed the eastern city of Derna the hardest. Two dams broke, flooding the city.

The circumstances were genuinely entirely unexpected. We have never experienced anything like this before, al-Mismari added, saying that an earthquake struck Libya 60 years ago and was the most recent significant natural disaster to affect the country.

Challenging search and rescue conditions

Cities in the east were formerly connected by roads, but now those roads are completely ruined or submerged. Others are only partially reachable, he claimed. Al-Mismari stated that this, together with the rugged topography of places like Jebel Akhdar in the northeast, have made it challenging for search and rescue crews to get to impacted areas.

The outside world is largely relying on social media videos from damaged areas to convey the scope of the disaster because internet and phone connectivity in affected areas is at best intermittent.

In several videos, Derna’s morgue is seen with remains laying in the street. In other videos, rescuers are seen attempting to drag a guy to safety as swiftly moving brown floodwaters quickly cover roadways and flood farmland. In other videos, cars can be seen stacked on top of one another in twisted metal piles. Homes and bridges that served as landmarks for the city in the past are now nothing but ruins.

The current calamity, according to Roque of the NRC in Libya, will make matters worse for Libyans who have already undergone years of conflict, destitution, and relocation.

In a statement, he urged more international aid for Libya, stating hospitals and shelters will be overstretched amidst the large wave of displacement.

After years of conflict and unrest, the nation’s infrastructure was not prepared to handle such a big calamity.

According to the Libyan National Army, there are foreign nationals among the deceased, along with a number of Libyan soldiers and members of the civil defense who were taking part in rescue efforts. Unknown numbers of servicemen or foreign nationals have perished in the floods.

Nevertheless, according to spokesman al-Mismari, the Libyan people have shown they are one people in this time of need, receiving both official and unofficial aid from regions controlled by competing governments, including as Tripoli, Misrata, and others. The east is under the command of the Libyan National Army, whose spokesperson is al-Mismari.

Aya Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Ruth Sherlock reported from Rome.

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