On September 11, 2023, Libya experienced the failure and collapse of 2 dams, sending nearly 30 Million Cubic Meters of water to destroy the city of Derna in the valley below. This crisis left the city of Derna devastated. According to the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the number of fatalities has reached roughly 4,000, while there still remains another 9,000 people missing. While the dam’s collapse caught everyone by surprise, it actually was no surprise that they failed. In addition, the devastation for Derna has just begun, as the results of the flood may cause further crisis.
The flood was the result of heavy rainfall from Storm Daniel, which many referred to as a Mediterranean Hurricane. This water began to fill up the Wadi Derna river which flowed directly through the city. The first dam, the Al-Bilad, stood roughly 8 miles south of the city. Heavy rainfalls and decades of neglect resulted in the failure and collapse of the dam, sending a massive amount of water to the city. The second dam, the Abu Mansour, stood less than a mile from Derna. Like its southern counterpart, it too had been neglected. When the rushing water finally made it to Abu Mansour, the dam stood no chance at stopping it, and upon collapse, the water hit Derna and dragged entire neighborhoods into the Mediterranean Sea.
It was no surprise, however, that the dams could not withstand the immense amount of water behind them. With increasing global temperatures and rising water levels, experts have already evaluated the dam and provided their concerns to officials. In a fractured country that has been internally fighting for decades, tasks such as infrastructure maintenance have been overlooked. Several times over the past few years, the dams were supposed to be maintained, however, corruption is likely to blame for the missing 2 million that was funded for the dam’s repairs.
With ongoing conflicts and neglect of core infrastructure, the dam’s collapse was inevitable. Various studies and surveys of the dam showed a pressing concern to officials that it needed to be tended to. In addition, various occupations of the city and surrounding regions made it largely difficult for a dam to be a priority. When nations suffer from internal conflict, the impact spreads beyond just the people involved. It affects economies as many are unable to continue working, resulting in the inability to spend money. It affects the spread and flow of information, such as the warnings of the dam’s failure. In this case, however, it affected infrastructure, as conflict prevented money and workers from being able to make it to the dam. While some observe that there were 2 million dollars put towards the dam, the money never made it.
The impacts on Derna from these failures resulted in an almost biblical disaster. However, the people of Derna face an even more dangerous future. With the sweeping flood that wiped out entire neighborhoods, unsuspecting people were also caught in the gush and brought out to sea or buried under rubble. A large number of human remains that have begun decaying sets a disease-ridden path that Dernas people must resolve. If not, the number of those killed by this event will grow even larger and the implications for the country and surrounding regions could continue to be catastrophic.
Author: Gabriel McGaw
