Storm Daniel, which has been hitting the eastern Mediterranean for weeks, has caused serious floods in several cities in eastern Libya. The storm has particularly affected the city of Derna, with 150,000 inhabitants, where the rains They have broken two dams, destroying entire neighborhoods and dragging towards the sea thousands of people, vehicles and buildingsas announced by the authorities.
The prime minister of the eastern Libyan government, Osama Hamaddeclared that the death toll could exceed 2,000 and there would be close to 10,000 missing according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The health minister of the east of the country, Otham Abduljaleel, noted that there are hundreds of bodies under the rubble and in the sea. The city would be inaccessible due to the destruction of the roads and the rescue efforts are even more difficult because the electrical grid is not working and the authorities cannot communicate with those affected who are waiting to be evacuated. “The situation is worse than we expected. A international intervention“Abduljaleel declared to the Libyan state channel. Egypt, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have announced the sending of humanitarian aid to the country.
Unlike the Moroccan government after the earthquake, the Libyan authorities They have asked for international help immediately. This morning the head of Italian diplomacy, Antonio Tajani, announced the sending of support to the African country. “The Italian Government responds immediately to requests for support after the floods in eastern Libya: an assessment team is on the way, coordinated by our Civil Protection,” said Tajani.
The Derna city council announced on its Facebook page that the situation “is catastrophic and out of control” and called for the opening of a maritime corridor due to the collapse of roads. Videos posted by locals on social networks show a torrent of mud and water that carries away vehicles and homes. The head of the Libyan emergency and ambulance authority, Osama Aly, told the Al Hurra channel that the authorities They did not anticipate the magnitude of the disaster. “Climate conditions were not studied well, sea water levels and precipitation were not studied. There were no evacuations of families who could be in the path of the storm, in the valleys,” he declared.
During the morning of this Tuesday the rescue teams began to recover the bodies in various parts of the city, while relatives and volunteers in other parts of the country have moved to Derna to help bury the deceased. About a dozen cities between Derna and Benghazi have suffered flooding from Storm Daniel.