Thousands Of People Missing As Storm Daniel Rips Over Libya

As many as 2,000 people may have been killed, and many more are missing, according to the leader of the self-proclaimed administration in eastern Libya.

The severe flooding produced by Storm Daniel washed away whole communities and ruined houses in several towns along the coast in eastern Libya, with the city of Derna "shut off totally" after the breaching of two ageing dams. Most of the people are presumed dead.

According to the prime minister of the region, Osama Hamad, 2,000 people had been killed and thousands are missing. However, the PM did not provide any sources for his estimate.

A spokesperson for the eastern-based military forces, Ahmed al-Mosmari, informed reporters that the dead toll in Derna had risen to two thousand, while almost six thousand people are currently missing. According to Al-Mosmari, the deadly flash flood was triggered by the failure of two neighbouring dams.

Experts estimate that more than 30 million cubic meters of water were thrown into the city, and images of devastated neighbourhoods are beginning to circulate the media.

Online video footage taken by local residents shows widespread destruction. A torrent that flows from the hillsides through the heart of the city wiped out the local communities. Apartment complexes with many stories that were originally set back from the river are now half submerged in the muck.

The area has no power, and no internet, so in addition to the lack of attention from the international community, difficulties in getting word of the disaster unfolding there to the rest of the globe also contribute to this situation.

Under the current circumstances, the numbers are projected to climb to at least 5,000 casualties.

Due to the country's continued division between eastern and western administrations, both supported by militias and other powers, search and rescue efforts are expected to be increasingly difficult. However, three areas of Cyrenaica province in eastern Libya were designated a disaster region by the Libyan Presidential Council in Tripoli, which has appealed for international assistance.

The Libyan Red Crescent reported losing communication with one of its employees as he was trying to rescue a trapped family in Bayda. Local media reports that floods in eastern Libya have devastated houses and other structures, killing at least a dozen people and leaving dozens more missing.

Spokesperson for the LNA, who controls the eastern side of the partitioned nation and is commanded by rebel military leader Khalifa Haftar, Ahmad Mismari, has confirmed that seven LNA personnel are among the missing.

Images from eastern Libya's Almostakbal TV showed automobiles being swept away by floodwaters. Pictures of a damaged roadway between Susa and Shahat, where the Greek-founded and UNESCO-listed Cyrene is located, were also shown by the station.

The national assembly in eastern Libya has established a three-day period of mourning. Tripoli's internationally recognized temporary prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, has also decreed three days of mourning in all impacted towns, which he has dubbed "disaster regions." All four main oil ports in Libya, Ras Lanuf, Zueitina, Brega, and Es Sidra, had been shut down since Saturday night. Schools and businesses were shut down and a curfew was enacted when authorities proclaimed a state of emergency.

Dbeibah said on Sunday that he had ordered all state agencies to "quickly cope" with the damage and flooding in eastern Libyan towns, despite his administration's limited influence there.

The UN has promised to "offer immediate humanitarian assistance in support of response operations at local and national levels" as the storm continues to rage.

 

Source: aljazeera.com