The death toll resulting from the floods caused by Storm Daniel in western Libya has reached 5,300, with approximately 10,000 people reported missing, according to an official from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Libyan Presidential Council President Mohammad Menfi and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh have called for an investigation into the disaster of the Derna dams' collapse.
Images broadcast by the Libyan National Channel on their official Facebook account have shown the true devastation in the city of Derna, where streets are destroyed, trees uprooted, and buildings demolished. People are lifting covers off bodies lying on the sidewalks in an attempt to identify them. Access to the city is currently only possible through two southern entrances (out of seven), and there has been widespread electricity outage and a failure of communication networks, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Around 3,000 people have been displaced from Al-Bayda, and over 2,000 from Benghazi and other cities to the west. The Health Minister of the Libyan government appointed by the House of Representatives, Othman Abdel Jalil, stated that 3,000 bodies had been buried today in mass graves, with 2,000 more yet to be buried. Abdel Jalil added that rescue teams continue to search under the rubble of the devastated buildings in Derna, with divers combing the sea off the coast of Derna.
In a statement, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh said that rescue teams had found over 300 people who were among those missing due to the devastating floods. He noted that after the return of the communications network in Derna, rescue teams were able to save more than 300 missing individuals, including at least 13 children, from the most severely affected areas of Bab Tobruk, Al-Zuhur neighborhood, and Eastern Shihah.
**International Aid**
Rescue teams from Egypt, Tunisia, the UAE, Turkey, and Qatar have arrived. Turkey has sent a ship carrying equipment to establish two field hospitals. Italy has dispatched three planes loaded with supplies and rescue teams, in addition to two navy ships that have struggled to unload their cargo due to the debris-filled port of Derna being nearly unusable.
The ninth humanitarian relief flight from the UAE has arrived at Benina Airport in Benghazi as part of an air bridge announced by Abu Dhabi, which will last for two weeks with two flights per day. The Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organization announced today that it has sent a plane with relief aid to the affected areas in Libya following the flood disaster in the eastern regions.
Additionally, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman instructed the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center to provide food and shelter assistance to victims of the floods in Libya. Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, advisor at the royal court and supervisor general of the center, stated that this directive is a continuation of the ongoing support provided by the Saudi government to support all brotherly and friendly countries in different circumstances and crises. He also mentioned that the aid will be coordinated with the Libyan Red Crescent and several international humanitarian organizations operating there for rapid distribution to those in need.
**Meteorological Concerns**
Meanwhile, Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, noted that the loss of life in the floods in Libya could have been avoided if the divided country had a meteorological agency capable of issuing warnings. Taalas explained that the main challenge facing Libya in dealing with the effects of the floods, which claimed thousands of lives, is the lack of a functioning meteorological authority, saying, "If they had an operational meteorological agency, they could have issued warnings." He added that emergency management authorities could have evacuated people, potentially avoiding most of the human losses. Taalas further remarked on the difficulty of improving the situation due to the severe security situation in the country.
