A week after the disaster, Libya is still recovering. Last Sunday, storm Daniel transformed into a medicane and brought down a deluge on the northeast coast of the country, drowning the town of Derna and thousands of residents. What is the human toll? Could we avoid such a tragedy? Where is international aid? 20 minutes summarizes what we know for you.
What happened in Libya?
On September 10, storm Daniel reached the eastern coast of Libya, hitting the metropolis of Benghazi before heading east towards several cities such as Al-Bayda, but especially Derna, which had 100,000 inhabitants before the tragedy. . Crossing the Mediterranean from Greece and Turkey, the storm had become a medicane, a rare but destructive weather phenomenon that scientists believe will intensify in a warming world. This term, little known to the general public but regularly used by scientists and meteorologists, is a portmanteau made up of the words “Mediterranean” and “hurricane” in English.
During the night of September 10 to 11, the two dams on Wadi Derna, which retain the waters of the wadi which crosses the city, failed. Powerful torrents destroyed bridges and swept away entire neighborhoods with their inhabitants on both sides of the wadi, before flowing into the Mediterranean.
What is the human toll?
The total number of victims announced by authorities in the east of the North African country where two rival governments are vying for power varies according to officials. On Saturday, the Minister of Health of the Eastern Libyan administration, Othman Abdeljalil, reported a death toll of 3,166. The UN announced a much higher figure, around 11,300 deaths in Derna alone, attributing it to the Red Crescent which immediately denied it.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “the bodies of 3,958 people have been found and identified”, while 9,000 others are still missing. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported at least 30,000 people displaced in Derna, as well as 3,000 in Al-Bayda and more than 2,000 in Benghazi, towns further west.
Could this tragedy have been avoided?
In addition to the violence of the meteorological phenomenon, dilapidated infrastructure, construction in violation of urban planning rules over the last decade and the lack of preparation for this type of disaster have transformed Derna into an open-air cemetery, according to experts. Most of the deaths “could have been avoided”, estimated Thursday Petteri Taalas, head of the World Meteorological Organization which depends on the UN. Years of conflict in Libya have “largely destroyed the weather observation network”, as have the computer systems, he said.
The two dams at the origin of the disaster had cracks since 1998, said Saturday the Libyan Attorney General, Al-Seddik al-Sour, who opened an investigation. Work was started in 2010 by a Turkish company after years of delay, but suspended a few months later in the wake of the Libyan revolution of 2011, and it has never resumed since, according to the prosecutor. Libya has indeed been plunged into chaos since the death of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with two rival governments, one recognized by the UN based in the capital Tripoli, in the west, the other in the eastern region. affected by floods.
Where is international aid?
Despite the political uncertainty in the country and NGOs already overwhelmed by the earthquake in Morocco, international aid promised at the start of the disaster is arriving and being organized. Two planes loaded with aid, one from the United Arab Emirates, the other from Iran, landed in Benghazi, noted an AFP journalist.
The WHO announced that 29 tonnes of medical equipment had arrived in Benghazi, about 300 kilometers from Derna. Finland, Germany and Romania sent aid. Neighboring Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait also sent planes carrying aid. Algeria, France, Italy, Qatar, Tunisia and the United States have also offered help. The United Nations has launched an appeal for more than $71 million to help hundreds of thousands of people in need.