UN: Most deaths in Libya’s floods could have been prevented

According to the United Nations World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the bulk of the fatalities and property damage brought on by the terrible floods in Libya could have been avoided with effective early warning and disaster management measures in place.

“The evacuation of the population could have been handled by the emergency management authorities. And we could have prevented the majority of the human casualties,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told journalists in Geneva.

On Sunday, flash floods in eastern Libya caused two dams to burst and swept entire neighbourhoods of the Mediterranean city of Derna into the water. The meteorological centre of the country in North Africa apparently sent out severe weather alerts 72 hours before the storm and emailed the relevant authorities.

WMO Director Taalas, however, expressed scepticism on the effectiveness of the warnings sent, stating that Libya’s biggest challenge in managing the flood aftermath was that the political system was “not functioning normally.”

“They could have issued a warning if they were a normally operating meteorological service,” he said.

Rescue attempts in Derna are stepping up as officials in eastern Libya record at least 6,000 fatalities, 10,000 missing persons, and more than 7,000 injuries. According to Derna mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, up to 20,000 people may have perished on Thursday.

The political tensions in the nation are said to make rescue efforts in Derna more difficult. Libya has been divided between the internationally recognised Government of National Unity in Tripoli and a competing government in the east since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011 in an intervention supported by NATO.

On Thursday, Taalas asserted that security concerns have impeded earlier UN WMO efforts to aid Libyan authorities in enhancing the nation’s meteorological system.

According to a Reuters article, Taalas claimed that it was challenging to visit the country and enhance the security situation because of how difficult it is there.

The UK’s primary charity for the UNHCR has started an urgent appeal to fund $71.4 million for help for Libya.

Also on Thursday, the World Health Organisation disclosed that it is allocating $2 million from its contingency fund to help with the emergency situation in eastern Libya.

According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the international organisation, 28 metric tonnes of emergency supplies will arrive in the country of North Africa on Friday from the WHO logistical base in Dubai.