Libya - Dams collapse during Storm Daniel, over 10,000 dead in flooding - Derna, 9-10 Sept 2023

[ifindedout]

Rescue Crews Work in Flood-Hit Eastern Libya

Associated Press quotes eastern Libya’s health minister, Othman Abduljaleel, as saying 3,000 bodies have been buried with 2,000 more still being processed

www.voanews.com

Search and rescue teams worked Thursday in eastern Libya, where devastating floods left thousands of people dead and thousands more missing.

The exact toll remained unclear following the flooding that hit Sunday.

The Associated Press quoted eastern Libya’s health minister, Othman Abduljaleel, as saying 3,000 bodies have been buried with 2,000 more still being processed.

Abdel-Raham al-Ghaithi, the mayor of the city of Derna, told al-Arabia television that the death toll could reach 20,000.

Derna was the hardest-hit area, with torrential rain and dam failures wrecking buildings, burying areas in mud and washing people out to sea.

World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told reporters Thursday in Geneva that "most of the human casualties" could have been avoided if Libya had a functional weather service.

Storyline from the BBC Libya flood deaths hit around 11,000 - Red Crescent - BBC News
Latest news from above link (14 Sept 2023 1256 UTC):

• Around 11,000 people are believed to have died, according to the Red Crescent, though Derna mayor Abdulmenam Al-Ghaithi fears that up to 20,000 people perished in the port city alone
• Thousands more have been displaced after entire neighbourhoods were washed away when two dams burst under pressure from Storm Daniel's intense rainfall
• Most human casualties could have been avoided if authorities had issued appropriate warnings and undertaken evacuations, the UN's World Meteorological Organization has said
• The UN has also warned that disease from contaminated water is the next threat for people affected by the disaster

 

[LadyL]

beyond tragic
poor people

 

[Gemmie]

What sad news. This is a few days old as they are talking about only a few hundred deaths, but there are some amazing pictures so thought I'd share.

https://www.npr.org/2023/09/12/1198909611/libya-flooding-storm-daniel

 

[ifindedout]

Entries from the blog of earth scientist Dave Petley, vice-chancellor of the University of Hull.

The failed dams in Wadi Derna in Libya

Further information about the Wadi Derna dams

 

[ifindedout]

8 officials jailed as part of investigation into deadly dam collapse in Libya

Libya’s chief prosecutor says he has ordered the detention of eight current and former officials pending his investigation into the collapse of two dams.

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

Government officials and aid agencies have given estimated death tolls ranging from more than 4,000 to over 11,000. The bodies of many of the people killed still are under rubble or in the Mediterranean, according to search teams.

A statement by the office of General Prosecutor al-Sidiq al-Sour said prosecutors on Sunday questioned seven former and current officials with the Water Resources Authority and the Dams Management Authority over allegations that mismanagement, negligence and mistakes contributed to the disaster.

Derna Mayor Abdel-Moneim al-Ghaithi, who was sacked after the disaster, was also questioned, the statement said.

Prosecutors ordered the eight to be jailed pending the investigation, the statement added.

The dams were built by a Yugoslav construction company in the 1970s above Wadi Derna, a river valley which divides the city. They were meant to protect the city from flash floods, which are not uncommon in the area. The dams were not maintained for decades, despite warnings by scientists that they may burst.