Who cares about the raging floods, After they leave

Author: Huang Peizhao, Feng Lu, Yu Qiyao

"It's a miracle that I was able to survive," Hussam Gavi's voice came over the phone. I could tell that he was still in shock.

31 year old Husam is an accountant in the eastern Libyan city of Derna. A few days ago, Hurricane Daniel hit this North African country at night, bringing rainstorm and floods, which washed out two dams on the upper reaches of the Delta River.

The torrential flood washed away the city located at the mouth of the Delna River. Floods are raging in this city known as the "Cyrenaica gem", with 7-meter-high waves raging fiercely, wiping out almost all houses, roads, trees, and grasslands wherever they go. Many people were washed away by floods in their sleep, and some families completely disappeared.

Husham said that at least 30 of his friends and over 200 acquaintances unfortunately died.

The water under my feet is flowing

That was 2:30 am on September 11th, outside it was pitch black, but there was some unusual noise.

Hussam stood up and went downstairs to check, drowsy eyed. He felt the water flowing under his feet. Without much thought, he opened the front door of the house he shared with his brother Ibrahim. More water rushed in and pulled the door down from its hinges.

The two brothers ran to the back door and saw a terrifying and unimaginable scene, which was even worse than death itself. Husham said, "The bodies of women and children drifted past us. Cars and the entire house were swept into the water. Some bodies were washed into our house by the water."

The flood also carried the Husham brothers further away. Within seconds, the two brothers who were originally holding hands were separated by a full 150 meters. 28 year old Ibrahim, with sharp eyes, grabbed the cable still tied to a utility pole and pulled it back to where Husham was trapped.

·The disaster area after the flood.

Then, the two brothers used the cable as a lifeline and continued to pull it, swimming towards a building. They walked through the windows on the third floor, then through another building, and took the stairs to reach the roof of the fifth floor, where they waited for the flood to recede.

Not far from the building where the brothers took refuge, it was the Mediterranean Sea. At this moment, there was a power outage in the city, and the sea was hidden in the darkness. Salim Nass, the head of the Delna Red Crescent Media Center, said that at least 2000 bodies were soaked in seawater, and "we continue to find bodies under the ruins of houses.".

·The flood washed away the entire city.

"Their building collapsed in the water"

The flood that washed away the city started with light rain a day ago. Amina Abdessis, a 23-year-old medical student, was born and raised in Delna. At first, she didn't feel any fear at all.

After her parents passed away due to illness, Amina became the guardian of three younger siblings. Raindrops were hitting the window, and she sat with her siblings in the apartment on the first floor of the beach tower, playing games and brushing her phone.

·The city was in chaos after the flood.

The rain grew heavier and the alarm sounded, making it impossible for them to fall asleep. In a phone interview with reporters in the nearby city of Tobruk, Amina said, "The disaster actually started around 2:30 am on Monday." "The noise is getting louder and louder. My younger brother said he saw water flooding the streets."

As the water level rises, neighbors begin to move upstairs. Amina held the cat and ran from the first floor to the third floor with her younger siblings. "Everyone looked at the pitch black outside and started praying. Then the water arrived on the third floor."

"Everyone started screaming. We climbed up again to the fifth floor and finally to the seventh floor." At this moment, Amina panicked, "I lost the cat. For a while, my younger brother also went missing, but fortunately I found him later. I realized that staying on the seventh floor was not safe, so I had to go to the roof."

On the roof, they saw many neighbors, including their friends and family, on the roof of a three story building across from them. Neighbors were waving their phones or flashlights in the darkness. After a moment, the building opposite collapsed with a loud bang, and the light from the flashlight and phone disappeared.

"It feels like an earthquake," Amina said. "Until now, our friends' family has not been found. Their son is looking for them. I told him that right in front of me, their building collapsed in the water."

Amina's relatives have also disappeared. Her uncle's family lives nearby. "Our last phone call was around 9 pm, and he called to confirm that we were all fine. Since then, we haven't heard from him." Uncle's building collapsed.

After the flood receded, Amina left the building with her younger siblings and walked for several hours before reaching the higher ground. Along the way, she saw many bodies and the nearby streets were completely washed away. "Just like the Earth cracked open, the streets were left with only a hollow." She said, "I think I can't go back anymore. We're familiar with every corner of this city. Now it's gone and gone."

·Tens of thousands of people died in the flood.

What saddens Amina even more is that her best friend Elsa was unable to escape. One of her neighbors slipped in front of her husband and son and disappeared into the flood.

"This could have been avoided."

"As if the end of the world is approaching, 25% of this city has already disappeared," said Chikiwat, the "Minister of Civil Aviation" appointed by the Libyan National Assembly, describing Delna in the midst of the disaster. Now, survivors are either desperately waiting for news from their loved ones or mourning the deceased. The number of deaths caused by the disaster is still significantly increasing. Delna Mayor Gais said the number of fatalities could reach 18000 to 20000.

WHO Director General Tedros said, "This is an unprecedented disaster." Indeed, Libya has never experienced a hurricane of such magnitude before.

·Hurricane weather composite map.

But as the head of the United Nations World Meteorological Organization stated, if the early warning and emergency management systems were functioning properly, most of the deaths caused by this disaster could have been avoided. "Due to internal conflicts, Libya's meteorological observation network has been severely damaged and there is no suitable extreme weather warning system. As a result, floods have arrived and effective personnel evacuation has not been carried out."

Last year, Libyan researchers released a report stating that the city of Derna has a low terrain and is threatened by floods. They called for immediate measures to ensure the regular maintenance of local dams. The researcher also warned that "the consequences of large-scale rainstorm will be catastrophic for the residents of valleys and cities".

This report has not received sufficient attention. In fact, in recent years, the city of Delna has received almost no related investment, and the two collapsed dams have not been maintained for a long time. The Chairman of the Libyan Presidential Council, Manfi, stated that the committee has instructed the Prosecutor General to investigate the collapse of the dam.

·The collapsed upstream dam.

Libya has abundant oil resources and was once one of the countries with the highest standard of living in North Africa. However, nowadays the cost of living here is high, there is a shortage of medicine supply, and the infrastructure is dilapidated. In the city of Delna, which has tens of thousands of people, there is no formal hospital, only a villa used as a temporary hospital.

·A mournful and weeping Libyan doctor.

After the fall of the Gaddafi regime in 2011, Libya has been in turmoil for a long time, with the country falling into pieces. The national unity government recognized by the United Nations and the armed forces that support it have controlled parts of the western region, while the Libyan National Assembly has formed an alliance with the "National Army" and mainly controls the eastern and central regions. The strange pattern of two governments coexisting in Libya leaves it with no time to focus on economic development and people's livelihood construction. Many areas, including Delna, have abandoned infrastructure and are vulnerable to ruthless natural disasters.

Even worse, the flood occurred in the area of Delna, which was once a "three no matter" zone controlled by extremist organizations, and was only recaptured by the eastern regime in 2019. Due to concerns about gains and losses, the National Congress that ruled the east was not enthusiastic about local construction, and the national unity government in the west was also beyond its reach. After the disaster, both sides failed to provide timely rescue and even passed the buck, and the death toll remains unclear to this day. The information released by the eastern authorities is completely different from the information released by the central government.

Climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent and powerful, but social, political, and economic factors determine who bears the greatest risk. The environmental systems lecturer at the Open University in the UK, Meben, said that Libya's harsh political environment poses challenges to coordinating rescue operations, infrastructure maintenance, and other tasks. Agence France Presse acknowledged in its report that "the political situation of Libya's disintegration has made the disaster situation even more severe.".

"This could have been avoided."

"The heavy losses caused by the Libyan floods are rooted in the United States' military intervention in Libya's internal affairs and the forced overthrow of the 42 year old Gaddafi regime. If the Libyan regime were stable and had a strong central government like before, it would not be so helpless in the face of floods, resulting in a large number of lives and property being swallowed up by the floods. This is truly lamentable." Egyptian columnist Jabala was deeply touched by this in an interview with Global People.

Indeed, this disaster is not only a natural disaster, but also a man-made one. Due to its abundant oil resources, controlling Libya holds significant strategic significance for the United States and the West. NATO, led by the United States, has used force to promote regime change under the banner of "counter-terrorism" and "safeguarding human rights", disrupting the political balance of this country and plunging it into long-term turmoil.

·Gaddafi.

On October 20, 2011, Gaddafi died tragically. Although this political powerhouse is full of controversy, at least he has maintained the stability of the country and can carry out certain construction. After his death, Pandora's box opened and Libya fell into one turmoil after another.

In terms of construction, the United States and the West have not put enough effort into leaving the bitter fruits to the Libyans to bear. According to United Nations data in 2021, in Libya with a population of 6 million, approximately 135000 people have become refugees, and over 800000 people require humanitarian assistance.

After leaving behind a patch of chicken feathers, the United States and the West clapped their hands and left, ignoring the dire situation in the area. After the flood, relief supplies and personnel from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Türkiye and Algeria have arrived in Libya. The Chinese Red Cross has announced the provision of emergency cash assistance to the Li Red Crescent Society, and China is also intensifying its efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the Li side.

At present, the flooding caused by Hurricane Daniel has resulted in a large number of deaths and missing people in Libya. The Libyan Red Crescent Society announced on September 14th that over 11000 people have died and over 10000 are missing in the city of Delna. A media insider familiar with the situation in Libya exclaimed, "After they leave, no matter what the floods are!"