Current:Home > ScamsLibya flooding presents "unprecedented humanitarian crisis" after decade of civil war left it vulnerable -Streamline Finance
Libya flooding presents "unprecedented humanitarian crisis" after decade of civil war left it vulnerable
View
Date:2025-04-14 10:34:23
Libya's eastern port city Derna was home to some 100,000 people before Mediterranian storm Daniel unleashed torrents of floodwater over the weekend. But as residents and emergency workers continued sifting Wednesday through mangled debris to collect the bodies of victims of the catastrophic flooding, officials put the death toll in Derna alone at more than 5,100.
The International Organization for Migration said Wednesday that at least 30,000 individuals had been displaced from homes in Derna due to flood damage.
But the devastation stretched across a wide swath of northern Libya, and the Red Cross said Tuesday that some 10,000 people were still listed as missing in the affected region.
The IOM said another 6,085 people were displaced in other storm-hit areas, including the city of Benghazi.
Harrowing videos spread across social media showing bodies carpeting some parts of Derna as buildings lay in ruins.
"The death toll is huge and around 10,000 are reported missing," Tamer Ramadan, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation in Libya said Tuesday.
More than 2,000 bodies had been collected as of Wednesday morning. More than half of them were quickly buried in mass graves in Derna, according to Othman Abduljaleel, the health minister for the government that runs eastern Libya, the Associated Press reported.
But Libya effectively has two governments – one in the east and one in the west – each backed by various well-armed factions and militias. The North African nation has writhed through violence and chaos amid a civil war since 2014, and that fragmentation could prove a major hurdle to getting vital international aid to the people who need it most in the wake of the natural disaster.
Coordinating the distribution of aid between the separate administrations — and ensuring it can be done safely in a region full of heavily armed militias and in the absence of a central government — will be a massive challenge.
The strife that has followed in the wake of ousted dictator Muammar Qaddafi's 2011 killing had already left Libya's crumbling infrastructure severely vulnerable. So when the storm swelled water levels and caused two dams to burst in Derna over the weekend, it swept "entire neighborhoods… into the sea," according to the World Meteorological Organization.
In addition to hampering relief efforts and leaving the infrastructure vulnerable, the political vacuum has also made it very difficult to get accurate casualty figures.
The floods destroyed electricity and communications infrastructure as well as key roads into Derna. Of seven roads leading to the city, only two were left intact as torrential rains caused continuing flash floods across the region.
Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the U.N.'s World Health Organization said Tuesday that the flooding was of "epic proportions" and estimated that the torrential rains had affected as many as 1.8 million people, wiping out some hospitals.
The International Rescue Committee has called the natural disaster "an unprecedented humanitarian crisis," alluding to the storm damage that had created obstacles to rescue work.
In Derna alone, "challenges are immense, with phone lines down and heavy destruction hampering rescue efforts," Ciaran Donelly, the organization's senior vice president for crisis response, said in a statement emailed to CBS News.
- In:
- Red Cross
- Africa
- Civil War
- United Nations
- Libya
- Flooding
- Flash Flooding
veryGood! (4235)
Related
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- Spin the Wheel to See Ryan Seacrest and Aubrey Paige's Twinning Moment at NYFW
- A judge has blocked enforcement of an Ohio law limiting kids’ use of social media amid litigation
- Jon Stewart's 'Daily Show' return is so smooth, it's like he never left
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- Inside Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker’s First Valentine’s Day as Family of 9
- Bob Edwards, longtime NPR 'Morning Edition' host, dies at 76: 'A trusted voice'
- Small plane lands safely near Buffalo after rear door falls off mid-flight
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Executive producer talks nailing Usher's intricate Super Bowl halftime show
Ranking
- Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
- 16 Things To Help You Adult If Life Has Been Giving You Too Many Lemons To Handle Lately
- Real Housewives' Melissa Gorga Is “Very Picky” About Activewear, but She Loves This $22 Sports Bra
- 14 Movies, TV Shows and More to Indulge in If You Are Anti-Valentine's Day
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Kentucky attorney general files lawsuit alleging Kroger pharmacies contributed to the opioid crisis
- Get Clean, White Teeth & Fresh Breath with These Genius Dental Products
- Executive producer talks nailing Usher's intricate Super Bowl halftime show
Recommendation
Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
Police release new sketches of suspected killer of Maryland mom of 5 Rachel Morin
Fired Northwestern coach wants to move up trial, return to football soon
Wisconsin Assembly to consider eliminating work permit requirement for 14- and 15-year-olds
Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
'Mama Kelce' gets shout-out from Southwest flight crew on way out of Las Vegas
Trump endorses North Carolina GOP chair and Lara Trump to lead RNC
Biden says Trump sowing doubts about US commitment to NATO is ‘un-American’