A recent international report revealed that the flash floods that struck Libya in September of last year constituted a climate and environmental disaster, necessitating $1.8 billion for reconstruction and recovery efforts.
The floods devastated large areas of the city of Derna, triggered by heavy rainfall accompanying Storm Daniel, resulting in the collapse of two old dams and inundating entire regions in the Mediterranean Sea.
According to the report issued by the World Bank, the United Nations, and the European Union, the disaster caused damage to around 1.5 million people, equivalent to 22% of Libya’s population.
Data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicated that 4,352 people lost their lives, with 8,000 still missing.
Libya has been divided since 2014 between competing power centers that govern the eastern and western parts of the country, despite a ceasefire reached in 2020.
Disputes between the Tripoli government and authorities based in the east have complicated efforts to deal with the disaster.
The report attributes the dam collapses to factors including their design based on outdated hydrological information, inadequate maintenance, and management problems amidst the conflict.
It further highlighted other factors that exacerbated the disaster, such as population growth and limited weather forecasting capabilities in the region, along with insufficient early warning systems for evacuation.
The report noted that climate change made the rainfall from Storm Daniel 50 times more likely and 50% more intense.
Estimates indicate that the material damage and losses from the floods in Derna and other cities due to Storm Daniel amounted to $1.65 billion, equivalent to nearly 3.6% of Libya’s oil-rich Gross Domestic Product in 2022.
The floods either destroyed or damaged more than 18,500 homes, constituting 7% of Libya’s total housing units. Initially, this led to the displacement of nearly 44,800 people, including 16,000 children.
The report highlighted the “limited accountability and capacity” of Libyan institutions as a “major challenge to recovery efforts.”
It also anticipated that the weak coordination among competing authorities could affect the government’s ability to “direct, manage, disburse, and monitor” the necessary funds to restore the situation to its former state.
