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I was first alerted to this a couple of days ago when it was the main headline news on Al Jazeera but wasn't being reported anywhere in the UK so far as I am aware.
Storm Daniel has hit much of the eastern Mediterranean where the occasional bout of severe rainfall is not unknown but it seems to be a combination of political polarisation, the after effects of war and unawareness of how climate change makes seemingly mundane tasks like building checks very critical even though there has been no pattern of flooding there in the past.
'Libya's leading Al-Wasat news website has relayed remarks that a delay in rebuilding the eastern Libyan city of Derna and maintaining proper upkeep of its dams led to the massive devastation of the city during Storm Daniel.
The impact of the storm - in which at least 2,300 people are believed to have died and 10,000 are said to be missing - was compounded by the collapse of two dams in the Derna valley, leading to neighbourhoods being wiped out, according to reports.
Al-Wasat cited two Libyan analysts making these remarks, in an article published 12 September.
"The security chaos and Libyan authorities' laxity in carrying out close monitoring of safety measures, of the dams, led to the catastrophe in Derna," it quoted economic expert Mohammed Ahmed as telling the website.
"Both factors will continue to lead to more catastrophes, not only in relation to the water sector, but also energy," he said.
He added that questions had persisted over the implementation of safety procedures in many old facilities, where, he said, maintenance had not been carried out for some time.'
I was first alerted to this a couple of days ago when it was the main headline news on Al Jazeera but wasn't being reported anywhere in the UK so far as I am aware.
Truly awful.
And the namby-pamby woke leftists at the BBC have postponed the start of Celebrity Race Around The World tomorrow, just because it starts in Marrakesh.
"The confirmed death toll has exceeded 5,300, M......... entire neighbourhoods had been washed away, with many bodies swept out to sea.
Hundreds of bodies were piled up in cemeteries with few survivors able to identify them, according to Kharraz, who said he expected the death toll to rise above 10,000 people"
A very instructive clip. Listen to the chap from 2.30m. Gives a concise summary of why, where, what etc
An avoidable tragedy it appears. A truly dreadful event that seems to have gone unrelatively unreported here
A clip that explains where how rainwater reached Derna
Warning, contains some disturbing images
Thank you for sharing. It is so important to be aware of news events that aren't UK-centric.
I did read elsewehere that the possible failure of one of those two dams had been anticipated in a study a very few years ago, but that no action had been taken.
"I did read elsewehere that the possible failure of one of those two dams had been anticipated in a study a very few years ago, but that no action had been taken. "
"Two rivers flow into Derna, which is supposed to be protected by two dams. Both collapsed as water overwhelmed them. While it was not clear what the state of the dams was, infrastructure across the country has been deteriorating for more than a decade.
“You just had a sort of routine neglect of all infrastructure in Libya,” said Stephanie T. Williams, who served as special adviser on Libya to the U.N. secretary general from 2021 to 2022. Dams, desalination plants, electrical grids and roads have been left in disrepair throughout the country, she said. Williams also noted that Derna is at the bottom of very steep mountains. Getting aid convoys down the road, which was wiped out, will pose a logistical challenge, she said.
The flooding is unusual for the region — one of the last times floods this deadly hit North Africa was in 1927 in Algeria. Roads and bridges are not built to be resilient against these kinds of disasters. Derna especially was not equipped. A battle between 2018 and 2019 — in which Hifter captured the city from Islamist militants — left destruction in its wake, and infrastructure has still not been completely fixed or rebuilt.
Hall also noted that authorities didn’t properly communicate with people about the dangers. “Typically, you have a robust early-warning system in place to be able to warn citizens to evacuate or take cover,” she said. “We didn’t have that in this situation.”
It is often the case that in these situations ie no proper government routine maintenance is not carried out, We've senn in the UK where maintenance has been cut to the bone you end up with raw sewage in the rivers and seas, schools/hospitals falling apart and rail infrastructure in the north breaking down.
Thankfully we are only suffering inconvenience. I dread to think what the final death toll will be, or the misery suffered by those surviving. Not only in thebow horrendous conditions they will be forced to live in, but the huge grief from losing so many loved ones, families etc.
Maybe us being shafted by supermarkets over the price of food is not so bad when you see what has happened to these people.
'The death toll from devastating floods in Libya’s eastern city of Derna has risen to an estimated 6,000 people, according to local officials. The figure is expected to rise as recovery operations continue in the coastal city that was pummeled by Storm Daniel. Rescuers and aid convoys are struggling to get to Derna, which has only one functional road left leading into it. Derna’s deputy mayor says the way the city was built put most of the population in the water’s direct path.'
"International aid is slowly starting to reach the devastated port city of Derna as an inquest starts into how as many as 20,000 people might have perished when Storm Daniel hit the northern coast of Libya on Saturday night."
The human story behind the floods. Echos of a radio documentray I heard many years back, about the 1953 East coast floods. Personal recollections, one of a boy whose father smashed their way onto the roof to sit in the pitch black, freezing cold starddling the roof. Arms linked to his mother who was clinging to the chimney, with the water about 6 foot below. A long harrowing night.
'The large number of decomposing bodies still under collapsed structures and in floodwaters in Derna city has raised concerns about the risk of disease for survivors.'
'But "the belief that dead bodies will cause epidemics is not supported by evidence", says Pierre Guyomarch, the head of the forensics unit of the Red Cross.'
'...“Those who survive an event like a natural disaster are more likely to spread disease than dead bodies.”
Dead bodies near or in water supplies can lead to health risks, however, according to the World Health Organization, and that's what some are concerned about in Derna, although the precise picture on the ground is still unclear.'
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