Image source, Reuters

Much of the tragedy unfolding in Derna is down to human negligence, says a Libyan doctor who has relatives missing in the port city.

The problems go a long way back to the 42-year rule of Muammar Gaddafi, explains Dr Hani Shennib, who is currently based in the US.

“Derna is one city that has been constantly defiant to Gaddafi so he punished it very badly. The city was eroded progressively - no schools and the hospitals were in very poor conditions,” he tells BBC Newsday.

This neglect continued after the 2011 revolution, when Gaddafi was killed and the country descended into political turmoil that continues to this day.

Prior to Storm Daniel, Derna did not have "one single hospital that was functioning", explained the medic, who is also president of National Council of US Libya Relations.

A house with five bedrooms had been rented and was being used as a makeshift hospital, he says.

Image source, Reuters

This all began when two dams collapsed in the Derna valley during a heavy storm, causing huge amounts of water to race towards the sea and devastate the coastal city.

One expert told Al-Wasat, Libya's leading news website, that the dams were poorly maintained.

"The security chaos and Libyan authorities' laxity in carrying out close monitoring of safety measures led to the catastrophe," claimed expert Mohammed Ahmed.

But the experts we‘ve spoken to say it’s too early to say whether the extreme rainfall was simply too much for the dams to handle or whether the condition of the structures also played a role.

Image source, .

Based on their observations, the dams were likely made from rockfill structures - dumped and compacted soil or rocks - which is not as strong as concrete.

“These dams are susceptible to overtopping [when water exceeds a dam’s capacity] and while concrete dams can survive overtopping, rockfill dams usually cannot,” says Dragan Savic, a professor of hydroinformatics at the University of Exeter.

It appears that the upper dam failed first, likely due to overtopping, according to structural engineer Andrew Barr from the University of Sheffield.

He told us that the water had then likely flowed down the rocky river valley towards the second dam, overwhelming it, resulting in the flooding of the city.

Image source, Reuters

There are scenes of utter devastation in Libya's eastern city of Derna this morning, after a powerful storm caused two dams to burst, sweeping away large parts of the port city.

The internationally recognised government in Tripoli said at least 2,300 people died; while the eastern administration - which controls Derna - said more than 5,300 bodies had been found.

Thousands are still missing, and a minister from the eastern administration said: "The sea is constantly dumping dozens of bodies."

At least 34,000 people have been displaced in the flood-hit areas, and photos show devastating scenes, with mountains of rubble, crushed cars, and body bags lining the streets.

Some aid has arrived, but with the country struggling under divided political administrations in the east and west, Libya's Prime Minister in Tripoli said they would only accept "necessary aid".

Many clinics and hospitals in eastern Libya are overwhelmed with those injured in the floods, the charity International Rescue Committee says.

Some patients are being evacuated to other cities, but with phone lines down and roads and bridges destroyed, medical rescue efforts to affected areas are proving difficult, the organisation says.

“Ambulances are in need of repair, physical access challenges and needs for logistical support are making it difficult for health volunteers to reach affected areas,” Elie Abouaoun, charity's country director, says.

“There are also fears about the possibility of waterborne diseases taking hold."

Image source, Reuters

As Libya battles with the aftermath of Sunday's devastating flood, the prime minister of the country's internationally recognised government - which operates from the capital, Tripoli, in the west of the country - has said foreign aid will be evaluated before being accepted.

“There were multiple offers of help and we will only accept aid that is necessary,” Abdul Hamid Dbeibah says.

Some aid has started to arrive in eastern Libya, where the worst-hit city Derna is located, but rescue efforts have been hampered by the political situation - the country is split between two rival governments (see our previous post for more).

Selective acceptance of international aid would also ease the co-ordination of the rescue operation, Dbeibah claims.

There has been criticism of Morocco for being selective in what it has chosen to accept following a devastating earthquake on Friday.

Libya's bitter foes work together after flood devastationpublished at 11:04 British Summer Time 13 September 2023

11:04 BST 13 September 2023

Amira Fathalla
BBC Monitoring

Image source, Reuters

The catastrophic impact of Storm Daniel in eastern Libya has brought the country’s fragile and complex political situation to the fore.

Libya is governed by rival authorities - the internationally recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) in the west, and the parliament, called the House of Representatives, in the east.

The House of Representatives has appointed its own parallel government with authority over the eastern region, where these floods have devastated the city of Derna. They are backed by the forces of powerful commander Khalifa Haftar, and control Libya’s east and south.

In the run-up to the storm, the rivals announced separate precautionary measures.

It was reminiscent of the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, when each side made their own plans before a national health department eventually took a more cohesive approach.

But as the utter devastation has become clear, we are seeing some examples of solidarity to help flood victims across political divides, including aid planes flying east from Tripoli.

This isn’t a political breakthrough yet, but it is rare to see the bitter foes working together.

Gem O'Reilly
Live reporter

Let's hear from Ahmed Bayram, who is part of the Norwegian Refugee Council's response team in Libya.

"The top needs for now are food, water, hygiene facilities, milk for babies, medicine for people who have lost everything they've had overnight," he tells the BBC.

"We will even be sending body bags. We have to start from scratch because the situation is very desperate and these people have nothing on them."

Bayram says they're the ones on the front line once the rescue operations have taken place.

"We are co-ordinating with local people on the ground to understand the magnitude of their needs - how many people have been killed, how many are missing.

"It's going to be a huge disaster for the Libyan people."

Image source, Reuters

At least 34,000 people in Libya's flood-hit areas have been swept out of their homes, according to the UN agency International Organization for Migration.

The port city of Derna, where Storm Daniel caused two dams to burst, has been most-impacted, with 30,000 residents currently displaced.

The organisation said they needed shelter and non-food items, but that getting help to the affected families was challenging as most roads in the region remain flooded, obstructed or destroyed.

Image source, Reuters

Libya has been in crisis since long-serving ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in 2011.

Since 2014, it has been politically split between the internationally-recognised interim government in Tripoli (in the west), and the administration in Tobruk (in the east) - which doesn't recognise the Tripoli government.

Derna, a former Islamic State stronghold during the post-Gaddafi civil war, is now mostly controlled by the eastern administration.

Countries that would like to send support are having issues negotiating with the two administrations.

But despite the split, the government in Tripoli has sent a plane with 14 tonnes of medical supplies, body bags and more than 80 doctors and paramedics.

Derna, about 250km (155 miles) east of Benghazi, is surrounded by the hills of the fertile Jabal Akhdar region.

Water engineering experts tell the BBC it is likely a dam around 12km (eight miles) from Derna failed first, sending its water sweeping down a valley.

The torrents then overcame a second dam, closer to the city.

The bodies of 145 Egyptians killed in the floods after Storm Daniel have been repatriated by the authorities in eastern Libya.

They were picked up by the local coastguard after being washed out to sea from Derna.

One survivor told the Tobruk Coastguard that most of them were originally from al-Sharif village in Egypt's Beni Suef region.

In accordance with Islamic rites, they were taken to a mosque in the port city of Tobruk to be cleaned before being returned home.

Many Egyptians live and work across the border in Libya - mainly in the east. Egypt’s Al-Ahram news website, external estimates the number is 140,000 - making them the second-largest migrant group in Libya.

More now from Hisham Chkiouat, from Libya's eastern administration.

He tells the Reuters news agency the "sea is constantly dumping dozens of bodies", adding that reconstruction of the city would cost billions of dollars.

More than 5,300 bodies have been counted in Libya's flood-hit city of Derna so far, a minister for Libya's eastern administration tells the Reuters news agency.

Hisham Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation, says the number of dead is expected to rise, and may even double.

Let's stick with Johr Ali, a Libyan journalist who spoke to Radio 4's Today programme a little earlier.

In the clip below, he recalls the harrowing moment his friend found out his whole family had died in the floods:

We've been hearing some distressing descriptions about the situation in Libya from Johr Ali, a Libyan journalist whose family is in the country.

He's currently in Istanbul for work, and tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "They all say it's like doomsday. The screams of the kids, the dead bodies around the streets."

He explains he spoke to a family who were the only ones to have survived the floods in their neighbourhood.

"They described the situation when the floods went away, saying a woman was hanging in the street lights because she was taken away by the flood.

"She stayed there and died there. They eye-witnessed that, they eye-witnessed their nephew dead in the streets, thrown away by water."

People say the amount of water is indescribable, Ali says.

"Tens of thousands are either dead or beneath the soil. The water took the ground beneath them and threw them into the sea."

Search and rescue operations are continuing in Libya, let's take a look at some of the latest photos:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, IFRC Middle East and North Africa/X

Sunday's floods knocked out internet and other telecoms services in many areas - but a government telecoms company says service has now been restored in many areas.

The Libyan Post Telecommunications and Information Technology Company said the country's international communications gateway had been "completely destroyed" after the floods cut off the submarine cable linking Libya to Europe.

In an update late on Tuesday, the company - which operates various telecoms providers - said it's working to restore areas that are still disconnected.

Libya’s prime minister earlier instructed telecoms providers to give free communications and internet services to all citizens so they could keep in touch with their families.

Much of Libya's eastern port of Derna is underwater after two dams and four bridges collapsed.

We've received these side-by-side satellite photos of Derna before and after the flood hit the eastern port city.

See for yourself the damage and extent of flooding:

Image source, Reuters

The floods in Libya have affected many people who were already vulnerable, including thousands of migrants.

There are about 600,000 migrants in Libya, according to the International Organization for Migration, some of whom are in the affected areas.

“At this early stage ... we don’t have a clear picture about how badly they have been affected,” says the UN agency's spokesman Paul Dillon.

Libya is a transit country for migrants from over 40 countries heading for Europe, the agency says.

Overall, the World Health Organization estimates over 1.8 million people have been affected by the floods.