On Monday, the United Nations' Libyan envoy urged a unified effort to rebuild the city of Derna that was devastated by a flood last month. In a recent statement, he said a unified effort is needed amid “unilateral and competing initiatives” for the reconstruction of the city.
One week prior to that, Libya's prosecutor general ordered the arrest of 12 officials, both current and former, as part of an inquiry into the flood that was caused by the collapse of the Abu Mansour and Derna dams in the aftermath of Storm Daniel.
Devastating flooding had occurred in the majority of eastern Libya and neighbouring Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria following the storm. But the focus was mainly around Derna, the Mediterranian city in the eastern region of Libya, which was the worst-hit.
Libya's eastern region saw extreme rainfall on September 10 and 11 because of Storm Daniel. The storm also hit the cities of Benghazi, Susa and Bayda.
Derna was swept away by the deluge. The first videos that came out of Libya showed buildings submerged fully in water, and an entire city looking like a sea. Initially, the authorities found it difficult to estimate the death toll since the North African country was torn between two separate governments.
The lack of proper coordination and the internet blockade by the government following protests by citizens made the search and rescue operations harder.
The United Nations Mission to Libya and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies were among the very few organisations that managed to reach Libya to help with the rescue efforts.
Mey El Sayegh, a spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, who is currently in the city of Benghazi in Libya, assisting with aid initiatives, spoke to The New Indian Express and shed more light.
Can you tell us about the current situation in Derna?
The current situation in Derna continues to be grave, following the devastating impact of the heavy rainfall from Storm Daniel.
The impact the flood had on the community as a whole is huge. The cultural practice of families living in close proximity has, regrettably, resulted in the loss of the entire family tree. We know 17 families from a specific tribe who died in this tragedy. Now, the remaining families have all sought refuge in Benghazi.
The Al Wahda hospital in the eastern part of Derna remains the only operational healthcare facility. As the flood destroyed most of the infrastructure in the country, accessibility continues to be a problem. Our efforts to rehabilitate isolated areas are ongoing. One of the main constraints is that only one out of the five main routes is in a condition that can be used for transportation. Besides, considering the terrain in the region following the flood, people here can only use 4by4 vehicles that are capable of powering all four wheels simultaneously to reach the isolated regions.
Officials here in Libya have raised alarms over bacterial contamination in all sources of groundwater and seawater, as the sewerage systems were destroyed in the flood. Because of this, there is a risk of waterborne diseases if civilians start to rely on tap water. Even though we are serving bottled water to people, they are all temporary solutions.
After the fall of Muammar Gaddafi following the revolution in 2011, the country was torn internally as they were ruled by two governments-- the west of the country ruled by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and the eastern region under Khalifa Haftar. Is the lack of a stable government in Libya complicating the relief efforts?
Libya has endured years of ongoing conflict. Now it is experiencing a disaster of a scale that goes beyond what we could comprehend, beyond the abilities of the Libyan government and people like the Red Crescent Society. This sure makes the relief efforts more complicated.
But we hear positive stories of solidarity too – including many people from western Libya, heading to the east to help. Crucially, the Libyan Red Crescent Society is politically neutral and therefore despite the political divide it has access and acceptance across the country.
As a humanitarian network, what role does the Red Crescent play during these relief efforts? Also, what are the problems you face?
The Libyan Red Crescent Society was among the first to respond to the crisis by deploying teams and volunteers for immediate search, rescue, and relief efforts. Our teams are coordinating with both the local authorities and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent.
The teams on the ground are also giving high priority to holistic psychosocial support. The survivors of the immense loss of an entire family need extensive psychosocial care. Not only for the the surviving children and family, who are in severe emotional distress but also for volunteers who may be coping with their own losses while helping others.
In Libya, cultural norms indicate a preference for financial independence over reliance on temporary shelters such as tents and camps. Accordingly, our aid initiatives are focused on providing cash assistance as a culturally sensitive and effective method to empower the affected communities.
However, we do face a series of operational challenges.
As I said earlier, the infrastructure of the country was damaged by the floods. So, accessibility remains a problem. At this point, there are not many routes we can use to get to the isolated areas.
The buildings and infrastructure might collapse at any time, and that is a risk we are facing.
People reading this, or who have been following the news about the condition in Syria might be wondering what they can do to help as the needs are mounting. What can the international community do?
The IFRC has launched an international appeal for 10 million Swiss francs to fund the Libyan Red Crescent society's relief work. Our Red Cross and Red Crescent societies from different countries -- Egypt, the Emirates, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Kuwait, Norway, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Tunisia -- have sent aid. They have also sent personnel to help with the relief works, which strengthens our local initiatives.
However, the needs are big -- ranging from emergency shelter and healthcare to food assistance and psychosocial support. To continue relief efforts after a crisis of this scale, we need additional financial contributions, skilled personnel, and material resources.
Since the beginning of the rescue efforts, there has been some confusion about the death toll and missing people. Does Red Crescent have an estimate of the casualties?
We recognize the urgency in confirming the number of lives affected and displaced due to the floods. Yet, at this stage, it is important to understand that the responsibility rests with the Libyan authorities.
We cannot confirm numbers, however, we are committed to providing humanitarian aid, in coordination with agencies.