Catastrophic flooding caused by Mediterranean Storm Daniel, which began on Sept. 10, has impacted northeastern Libya – leaving thousands of casualties in its wake.
As of Sept. 11, the flooding has destroyed two dams and four bridges in the country's northeast. Meanwhile, an official said on Sept. 12 that authorities in eastern Libya have recovered the bodies of more than 1,000 victims from the rubble in a coastal city that has been submerged by destructive floods. A spokesman for the Libyan Ministry of Interior said following the deluge, the death toll in the city of Derna alone has surpassed 5,300.
Tamer Ramadan of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said during a Sept. 12 press conference that 2,000 people are feared to have died and 10,000 people are missing following the floods. The whole city of Derna, with its population of more than 100,000, is reportedly submerged.
Rescue attempts and emergency services in the flooded city have been criticized for their slowness. "There are no first-hand emergency services," said volunteer doctor Anas Barghathy. "People are working at the moment to collect the rotting bodies."
Hichem Abu Chkiouat, a senior official in eastern Libya, described the situation in Derna as "very disastrous." He told Reuters in a phone interview: "The number of bodies recovered in Derna is more than 1,000. Bodies are lying everywhere – in the sea, in the valleys, under the buildings."
"I am not exaggerating when I say that 25 percent of the city has disappeared. Many, many buildings have collapsed."
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East-west divide in Libya impeding rescue efforts
The emergency services of the Tripoli-based government in the country's west said on Sept. 12 that more than 2,300 people in Derna died during the flash floods. Osama Ali, a spokesman for the services, stated more than 5,000 people were still missing in Derna and about 7,000 others were injured by the strength of floodwaters that raced down a usually dry river valley and struck the city. (Related: Rare summer rainstorm causes flash flood in Las Vegas Strip.)
Ossama Hamad, prime minister of the east Libya government, said thousands of people were missing in the city. Several were believed to have been washed away after two upstream dams collapsed, he added.
Libyan journalist Abdulkader Assad meanwhile blamed the political chaos as a determining factor to the slow rescue response. He cited the presence of two governments in the country as a major reason why help is trickling in slowly.
"There are no rescue teams, there are no trained rescuers in Libya. Everything over the last 12 years was about war," Assad said in an interview with the BBC. "There are two governments in Libya... and that is actually slowing down the help that is coming to Libya because it's a little bit confusing. You have people who are pledging help, but the help is not coming."
Libya stays divided between two opposing governments after more than a decade of confusion. One administration is in the east and one in the west, each supported by militias and foreign governments. The fight has left the oil-rich nation with collapsing and insufficient infrastructure. Ever since the overthrow of the country's former leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been in turmoil.
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Watch this video about flooding in Honduras that lead to landslides and destruction, which was reportedly caused by heavy rainfall just like in Libya.
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