On Wednesday, a report by the World Bank, United Nations, and European Union said that Libya’s deadly flash flood in September constituted a climate and environmental catastrophe, requiring $1.8 billion Dollars in reconstruction and recovery.
The report added that the disaster affected about 1.5 million people, or 22% of Libya’s population. It cited figures from the UN humanitarian agency, OCHA of 4,352 confirmed deaths with 8,000 still missing, according to Reuters.
The report noted the dams’ collapse was partly due to their design, based on outdated hydrological information, and partly a result of poor maintenance and governance problems during Libya’s conflict.
It pointed out that population growth and development downstream, limited weather forecasting in the region, and inadequate early warning systems to ensure evacuation accentuated the disaster.
According to the report, climate change had made the rainfall unleashed by Storm Daniel up to 50 times more likely, and 50% more intense.
It estimated that physical damages and losses from the flooding in Derna, and other cities accounted for $1.65 billion – about 3.6% of oil-rich Libya’s gross domestic product in 2022.
The flooding destroyed or damaged more than 18,500 houses, equivalent to 7% of Libya’s housing, initially displacing nearly 44,800 people including 16,000 children, the report said.
“The limited accountability and capacity of Libyan institutions posed a key challenge to recovery processes, while weak coordination between rival authorities was expected to hit the government’s ability to channel, manage, disburse and monitor recovery funds,” it added.
On 10 September, a devastating storm swept through several eastern regions of Libya, notably the cities of Derna, Benghazi, Al-Bayda, Al-Marj, and Sousse. This resulted in significant destruction and led to the loss of thousands of lives, injuries, and missing individuals.