Relief work in the flood areas in Libya is progressing slowly. Meanwhile, bodies are still being recovered. The UN is also warning about the precarious situation at two other dams.
In the flooded areas of Libya, rescue and recovery teams are still struggling with overwhelming challenges after more than a week. Although more and more aid supplies have arrived through Benghazi Airport, according to helpers, residents and international observers, this is still far from enough.
“So much has been destroyed,” Claudia Gazzini, a Libya analyst at the International Crisis Group, told the Wall Street Journal. She got an idea of the situation in the heavily damaged port city of Darna, the epicenter of the disaster. “The rescue efforts are small compared to the damage,” said Gazzini.
The distribution of food, medicine, tarpaulins and other things remains difficult. According to Doctors Without Borders, helpers are urging that aid operations be better coordinated.
Clean drinking water is becoming scarce
Recovery teams continue to search for bodies decomposing under the chaos of rubble. “You can smell dead people on every corner,” Osama Aly, spokesman for the Libyan Civil Protection Authority based in Tripoli in the west, told the Wall Street Journal.
Added to this is the smell of untreated sewage. The lack of clean drinking water in particular is fueling concerns that diseases such as cholera could spread.
Several deaths in accident
Meanwhile, the rescue work was overshadowed by a serious accident: According to the authorities in eastern Libya, at least four Greek emergency workers and three members of a Libyan family were killed. 19 Greek rescuers were on their way to Darna when their minibus collided with the car of a family of five. 15 people were injured, some seriously.
The fact that Libya is actually divided into two parts does not make rescue operations any easier. The civil war country has a government in the West that is internationally recognized. In the east, where Storm Daniel caused particularly great damage, a different government that is not internationally recognized is in power.
Two more dams in danger
The UN Emergency Relief Office (OCHA) also warned of a precarious situation at two other dams, behind which large amounts of water are said to be accumulating. It’s about the Jasa Dam between the partially destroyed city of Darna and Benghazi and the Kattara Dam near Benghazi, OCHA announced on Sunday evening. However, reports about the situation are contradictory. According to authorities, both dams are in good condition and functioning. According to authorities, pumps will be installed at the Jasa Dam to relieve the pressure on the dam, according to OCHA.
The city of Darna was hit hard after last Sunday’s severe storm, particularly when two dams broke. Thousands of people died and thousands are still missing. The local authorities do not yet have an exact number of victims. According to the UN, around 11,300 people died in Darna alone and another 10,100 people are still missing.