Cyclone Daniel, which has been crossing north-eastern Libya since yesterday, has so far caused at least 2,080 deaths and the number of missing could exceed 5,000 due to torrential rains that have swept away entire residential areas, the parallel government reported of the east. Ali al-Gatrani, deputy prime minister of the parallel government, asked the international community to intervene “urgently” in the city of Derna, the most affected by the phenomenon, which was blocked by land, without electricity and communications and declared a disastrous”.
(reuters)
Complicating the situation in Derna was the simultaneous collapse of two dams which – according to local sources cited by The Libya Observer – “released over 33 million cubic meters of water which generated devastating floods”. In Tripoli, the prime minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, decreed three days of mourning, while for his part Prime Minister Hammad announced two public holidays for all sectors of the east of the country, with the exception of the security services , health and emergency.
These areas in eastern Libya are home to the main oil fields and terminals: the National Petroleum Company (Noc) has announced a state of maximum alert and the suspension of flights between production sites where activity has been drastically reduced. Described by experts as an “extreme phenomenon due to the amount of water that fell”, the storm had also hit Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria in recent days, killing at least 27 people. Then, after having dumped intense rainfall into the sea in recent days, over the past weekend it reached land in Cyrenaica, flooding a vast area ranging from Benghazi, where a curfew has been imposed and schools are closed, to El Beida, with winds reaching speeds of up to 180 kilometers per hour, according to the Arab Regional Meteorological Center.
(reuters)
Precipitation was estimated between 50 and 250 mm, with lightning and thunder. According to the Libyan National Meteorological Center, the storm is expected to move further east, around the Jaghbub areas, and reach the regions bordering Egypt. The United Nations in Libya is closely following the emergency. “We express our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and our thoughts to all those affected,” said the UN support mission in the North African country. (Unsmil). In a message on social media, Tunisian President Kais Saied said he had “authorised immediate coordination with the Libyan authorities for emergency aid by deploying the necessary human and logistical means”. In addition to Tunis, Egypt, Algeria and Qatar are also moving to help.
Tajani: Italy is ready to send aid to Libya
«The Italian Government is carefully following the consequences of the floods in Libya. We are in contact with the Libyan authorities to evaluate the type of aid to send immediately to the Libyan people. At the moment there are no Italians involved.” Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani writes this on X.