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Floods in Libya a month before the anniversary of the Derna floods raise fears

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Globalvoices.org 

Human and natural causes have contributed to the tragedy

Originally published on Global Voices

 

Screenshot from video uploaded on August 13, 2024, by X user @MasliMohamed. Fair use.

As Libya approaches the grim first anniversary of the catastrophic Derna floods, a new wave of torrential rains and flooding has struck the southeastern city of Kufra causing widespread damage and reigniting fears and painful memories of last year's disaster which claimed thousands of lives in the northeastern coastal city of Derna and left the nation in a state of mourning.

On August 11, unusually heavy rainfall battered the Kufra region. The National Meteorological Authority estimated it at 46mm of rain in one hour — 51mm in 24hrs —  the heaviest since 1952. According to  the International Organization of Migration, at least 3000 people were displaced due to the floods, which caused damage to services, infrastructure, and homes in the affected area.  Four people of Chadian nationality have been reported killed, while a video of Red Crescent Society evacuating a hospital in the city circulated online.

The memories of last year's floods are still fresh in the minds of many, and the situation in Kufra only deepened the sense of vulnerability felt across the country.

Torrential floods swept through the Libyan city of Kufra, following heavy rains, causing extensive damage to property amid fears of a repeat of the Derna flood disaster.

On September 11, 2023, after days of torrential rain, two dams in the Derna region collapsed, releasing a massive surge of water that swept through the nearby city, destroying everything in its path. A year later, the death toll is still not final, with different sources estimating the number between 6000 and 20,000 when including those who are missing to this day.

Human and climate crisis

The devastating floods are a reminder of climate crisis impact and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, including flooding and landslides. Experts have repeatedly warned that such events are becoming more common due to global temperature increases. However, these disasters are not solely the result of natural causes; human factors, including conflict, corruption, poor infrastructure maintenance, and inadequate urban planning, have significantly worsened the effects.

A report by the World Weather Attribution group revealed that human-induced climate crisis significantly increased the likelihood of heavy rainfall in Libya, making such extreme weather events up to 50 times more probable. The analysis also highlighted that better preparedness and infrastructure could have mitigated the disaster’s impact, though the climate crisis played a critical role in intensifying the storm that would have the probability of hitting Libya once every 300 to 600 years.

Following the Derna floods, investigations revealed that the collapse of the dams was due to a combination of factors, including corruption, negligence, and a lack of oversight. Despite the allocation of funds for dam maintenance, no significant work was done, leaving the infrastructure in a perilous state. The findings led to the arrest and conviction of 12 officials, sentenced on July 28 this year to between nine and 27 years in prison. Most of them are in the Water Resources and Dams Administration, including the head of the Derna Reconstruction Fund and a member of the financial committee tasked with implementing its reconstruction plan.

A week after Hurricane Daniel and the floods that followed, the people of the Libyan town of Derna stormed and burned the home of the mayor, Abdul Moneim Al-Ghaithi, at night, after a day of gatherings and demonstrations demanding the overthrow of parliament and its speaker, Aguila Saleh.

The demonstrators read a statement in the name of the “residents of Derna” during their stand in front of the Grand Mosque, demanding the acceleration of the results of the investigation and holding accountable “everyone who had a hand in the negligence or theft that led to this disaster,” in addition to dissolving the city council and investigating its previous budgets. The latter demand was met, as Osama Hammad, the head of the eastern government of the country, decided to dissolve the municipal council in Derna.

The consequences of the flood are still being revealed to this day, as the latest official statement recorded the death of approximately 3,338 people, with expectations of the number rising. The search for thousands of missing people continues, along with warnings from the United Nations about the spread of new diseases in the affected area.

Amnesty reported that both the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) and the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), who were in control of the regions affected by the 2023 floods, did not provide sufficient warning or take essential risk mitigation actions before Storm Daniel, which ultimately led to the collapse of the dams.

Read more: Floods and flooding ‘will be part of our lives,’ says Brazilian architect and urbanist

Many Libyans remain skeptical about the true accountability of those responsible, particularly as powerful military and political actors have largely evaded scrutiny.

The role of the ongoing conflict in Libya cannot be ignored either. The war has devastated the nation’s infrastructure and left it divided, making it difficult to implement effective disaster preparedness strategies and complicated relief efforts, leaving many communities vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters.

Written by Walid El Houri