Over 5,000 Dead, 10,000 Missing After Storm Triggers Deadly Floods in Libya

As per the UN, Libya is the only country which is yet to develop a climate strategy.

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows a dam collapse in Derna, Libya, on Tuesday, 12 September. The destruction came to Derna and other parts of eastern Libya on Sunday night, 10 September.

(Photo: Planet Labs PBC via AP/PTI)

Video Producer: Shohini Bose

Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam

At least 5,000 people have died and around 10,000 are still missing after a storm caused two dams to burst causing flooding near Derna, a coastal city in eastern Libya.

“The death toll is huge and might reach thousands,” Tamer Ramadan of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told Al Jazeera.

When the dams burst, an estimated 30 million cubic metres (39 million cubic yards) of water was released, which destroyed much of the city with a population of 1,00,000.

The way the city was built put most of the population in the water’s direct path, Derna Deputy Mayor Ahmed Madroud was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

Madroud further added that the dams had not been maintained for more than two decades.

Libya, which has witnessed years of war and lacks a central government, has poor infrastructure to cope with with such intense flooding, according to the Associated Press.

Moreover, it is also the only country which is yet to develop a climate strategy, as per the United Nations.