Libya has faced one of the worst floods in history. From what we know now, over 5,000 people have died, with Libyan officials speculating that the death toll can be near 20,000.
A series of unfortunate events from torrential rainfall which then turned into a flash flood to then the collapse of two dams that could not support the rainfall. The dams burst under pressure and unleashed even more water, flooding the city of Derna and surrounding cities. Hospitals and morgues are being filled to the point where they are unable to operate. Any sort of emergency services are inoperable.
Credits: Marwan Alfaituri/Reuters
What caused the dams to burst? The dams were outdated. The dams were not properly maintained and were built years ago. With the climate changing, weather control infrastructure needs to be updated. However, there was a lack of preparedness on Libya’s end. They had not expected this kind of storm and authorities were not equipped to handle this kind of catastrophe.
Libya does not have a unified government. With two political groups rivaling each other, there is no set administration. Since 2011, two parties have been fighting for control. The government of National Unity sits on the West side of Libya while the Libyan National Army controls the East side of Libya. These warring parties add to a lack of preparedness for a natural disaster and the reason why infrastructure can’t be improved or why emergency services lack terribly. There was a budget for improving the dams, but the money was never seen. No one in Libya knows if it was even spent. It is impossible to know without some sort of central government.
As for international aid, countries like Egypt, UAE, Turkey, Italy, Algeria, and many others are sending support. Sending support will be difficult considering there are two rivaling factions and that Libya seeks only individual country aid and not international organizational aid fearing that international organizations will only use the money to support projects they think are necessary versus what Libya thinks is necessary, further complicating the aid process.
As the climate warms, it plays a role in how the flood happened. Warmer water added to the storm, increasing rainfall intensity and making the storm more powerful. The situation in Libya should be a reminder for the international community to take action tp support countries to establish a central government, ensure proper investment into infrastructure, and continue work in green technologies to prevent a climate problem. Storms like these are not domestic issues, but issues that the international community will have to realize this can be something that can happen to anyone and steps need to be taken to ensure a prepared government, funds, and infrastructure are in place before another catastrophe happens.
The international community should continue to support cleanup efforts but also go further and establish talks with these warring factions to end a political issue since 2011.
Author: Aleksandros Spaho
