About 2,000 people died in Libya after flooding from Hurricane Daniel, the same storm that killed 18 people in Greece last week and caused chaos in the Thessaly region. The last update from Libyan authorities put the death toll at 61 on Monday, but the number reached thousands after relief teams finally managed to reach the town of Derna.
The cause of the disaster was the failure of two dams upstream of this port city, unable to withstand the force of the water. The death toll was given by Prime Minister Osama Hamad and Ahmed al-Mosmari, a spokesman for the armed forces stationed in the east of the country. 5000 to 6000 are missing, possibly swept away by the force of the currents.
Libyan government and health officials have already confirmed 46 deaths in Bayda (in the east of the country), seven in Susa and another seven in Shahad and Omar al-Moktar. And a dangerous sacrifice Marge(North East). “In an interview with the Al-Arabiya channel quoted by the Associated Press, Essam Abu Geriba, the interior minister of the eastern Libyan government, agreed. Terna was already considered a disaster zone and declared by the administration for three days. National mourning.
According to reports by a journalist from Terna, Jawhar Ali, to Al Jazeera, the city is “isolated from the rest of the world” without any form of communication. “The currents have not stopped yet,” he described: the water “invaded the streets of the city and collapsed buildings.” After sunrise [na manhã de segunda-feira], many city streets were destroyed. People saw dead bodies floating in the water.
The head of Libya’s presidential council, Mohamed Manfi, appealed to the international community this Monday to provide humanitarian aid after the storm passed. It has already contacted countries such as Spain and Italy to coordinate its support, and oil majors Total (France) and Eni (Italy) have pledged to deliver three planes to Benghazi authorities this Tuesday. The city is isolated as roads and bridges are damaged.
Storm Daniel formed on September 4. It developed into a Mediterranean tropical cyclone after hitting Greece and before making landfall again in Libya. The storm entered the country on September 10, shutting down operations at four oil ports for three days. After losing strength, the typhoon hit Egypt this Monday, but brought only moderate rain.
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