Recent dam bursts caused by a storm devastated the Libyan city of Derna, leaving at least 5000 dead, and thousands of others missing, after a 23-foot-high wave struck. Driven by Storm Daniel, which caused flooding through other nations around the Mediterranean, the storm gained power and strengthened into a medicane before hitting Libya where it dumped more than 16 inches of rain in a 24-hour period, as reported by CNN.
While it’s too early to know all the factors driving this disaster, warnings had been raised about the state of the dams and associated infrastructure, which dated back a half century, and limited maintenance, last performed in 2002, according to CNN. A recent paper from Libya’s Sebha University warned “The current situation in the Wadi Derna reservoir requires officials to take immediate measures to carry out periodic maintenance of existing dams. Because in the event of a huge flood, the result will be catastrophic on the residents of the valley and the city,” while also noting about issues with soil erosion and a lack of notifications to residents about the risk of flooding.
This lack of notifications was also raised by Petteri Taalas, head of the UN’s World Meteorological Organization. Said Taalas to CNN, “If there would have been a normally operating meteorological service, they would have issued the warnings and also the emergency management of this would have been able to carry out evacuations of the people and we would have avoided most of the human casualties.”
Source:
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/09/14/middleeast/lethal-factors-leading-to-libya-floods-intl/index.html
