Libya: Hundreds feared dead after Storm Daniel causes ‘catastrophic’ floods

Hundreds of people have been killed after Storm Daniel swept through the Mediterranean over the weekend, bringing strong winds and heavy floods to several countries, including Libya, over the past two days. The death toll was not immediately clear amid conflict reports ranging from hundreds to thousands of people, said a report by Reuters, on Monday (September 11) citing senior officials.

The storm in question also brought torrential rains and wreaked havoc in Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece.

About the victims

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According to the head of the eastern Libyan government, Osama Hamad, more than 2,000 people have died in the coastal city of Derna and thousands of others were reported to be missing.

However, he did not give a source for his data and the figures could not be verified independently since the country is politically split east and west with two rival administrations in charge and crumbling public services since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.

Hamad is the head of the government which is not internationally recognised and operates in the eastern regions of the country that are controlled by Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA).

The head of the Red Crescent aid group in the region said Derna’s death toll was expected to rise. “We recorded at least 150 deaths (in Derna) after the collapse of buildings. We expect death toll to rise to 250. The situation is very catastrophic,” Red Crescent’s Kais Fhakeri told Reuters.

Mohamed Massoud, a spokesman for the Benghazi-based administration in Libya, said that at least 150 people have been killed due to “flooding and torrential rains left by storm Daniel in Derna, Jabal al-Akhdar region and the suburbs of Al-Marj,” as quoted by AFP.

Massoud said that hundreds of residents are said to be trapped and rescuers, backed by the army, are trying to come to their aid. He added that the east Libyan authorities had “lost contact with nine soldiers during rescue operations”.

What do we know about the damage?

Reports citing images and videos by residents in the flood-stricken areas said that parts of the country are witnessing swamping roads and some buildings were also destroyed in Derna. The storm also swept through other settlements along the coast, including Libya’s second-biggest city of Benghazi.

Some images also show massive mudslides, collapsed buildings and entire neighbourhoods submerged under muddy water, reported AFP. Images posted by Almostkbal TV show a collapsed road between Sousse and Shahat, home to the Greek-founded and UNESCO-listed archaeological site Cyrene.

“Entire neighbourhoods in Derna have disappeared, along with their residents...swept away by water,” Hamad told al-Masar TV.

Derna resident Saleh al-Obaidi told Reuters how he managed to flee with his family after houses in a valley near the city had collapsed. “People were asleep and woke up and found their homes surrounded by water,” he added.

Reuters citing witnesses said that the water level in Derna had reached three metres (10 feet).

Officials respond to disaster

Libya’s eastern-based parliament declared three days of mourning after the disaster. Reuters citing witnesses also said that search-and-rescue operations were ongoing and the authorities have declared a state of extreme emergency, closing schools and stores and imposing a curfew.

The United Nations in Libya said it was following the storm closely and would “provide urgent relief assistance in support of response efforts at local and national levels”.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of the interim western government in Tripoli, Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, announced three days of mourning in affected cities, calling them “disaster cities” and emphasised “the unity of all Libyans” in the face of the disaster.

(With inputs from agencies)

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