{"id":28229,"date":"2023-09-25T13:47:21","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T12:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/?p=28229"},"modified":"2023-09-25T13:47:21","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T12:47:21","slug":"libya-flood-disaster-scale-of-the-catastrophe-must-bring-the-two-warring-factions-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2023\/09\/25\/libya-flood-disaster-scale-of-the-catastrophe-must-bring-the-two-warring-factions-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Libya flood disaster: scale of the catastrophe must bring the two warring factions together"},"content":{"rendered":"

A century ago, the coastal city of Derna was well known for picture-perfect beaches, palm trees and whitewashed villas mainly inhabited by Libya\u2019s Italian colonial occupiers. Today, in the\u00a0aftermath of Storm Daniel<\/a>, which brought 400mm of rain to the region, overwhelming two dams and sweeping millions of tons of water across the city, much of Derna has been flooded. Entire suburbs are reported to have been\u00a0washed into the sea<\/a>\u00a0by the tsunami-like wave that barrelled down the normally dry river Wadi Dern through the heart of the city.<\/p>\n

\"NASA
NASA Terra MODIS satellite image of flooding across north eastern Libya<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The death toll from the catastrophe\u00a0is estimated at more than 11,000<\/a>\u00a0with another 10,000 missing and feared dead. Countless more people \u2013 perhaps one-third of Derna\u2019s inhabitants, have been left homeless.<\/p>\n

Derna has been a\u00a0centre of resistance<\/a>\u00a0to successive Libyan regimes. The former Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, regarded the city with distrust and deprived it of basic resources and infrastructure. On the eve of Gaddafi\u2019s overthrow by Nato-backed forces in 2011, the Libyan government described Derna as a \u201chotbed of Islamic fundamentalism\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the vacuum left by Gaddafi\u2019s overthrow and the civil war that followed, Derna became a centre for jihadis who pledged their allegiance to Islamic State in 2014. From 2015 to 2018 the\u00a0city was besieged<\/a>\u00a0by Libya\u2019s eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA).<\/p>\n

As a result, the city has suffered from decades of neglect and much of its infrastructure dates back to Italian occupation of the country in the early 20th century. The city has\u00a0no proper hospital and no schools<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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As many as 20,000 people are feared dead in Derna, Libya, after two dams failed. The UN says most of these deaths could have been avoided, so why has the disaster taken such a toll? Libyan politician @Guma_el_gamaty<\/a> blames neglect and bad planning https:\/\/t.co\/6faz83HVnY<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/kTQOfbs86K<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 BBC World Service (@bbcworldservice) September 14, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n