Over 5,000 Dead And ‘Disappeared’ Cities: Initial Figures From Libya Reveal Storm Daniel’s Sheer Devastation
Storm Daniel’s utterly devastating effects on Libya are only now emerging, with the latest figures coming from the Mediterranean country being truly difficult to comprehend.
Figures compiled by the Libyan Centre for Security & Military Studies (from information provided by the Libyan Red Crescent and NGOs) have painted a truly post-apocalyptic picture of the floods’ effects on the nation, with the death toll more than doubling over the last 24 hours.
As it stands, initial figures have now put the death toll at over 5,000, with over 11,000 still missing.
In Derna, the eastern city which was hit the worst after catastrophic flooding broke two dams and brought a deluge of muddy water into the streets, entire neighbourhoods were swept away, with at least a quarter of the city being simply reported as “disappeared”.
In fact, over 450 buildings are believed to have been swept away or completely destroyed by the flooding.
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Meanwhile, some 20,000 families are believed to have been displaced in the flooding, in a horrific natural disaster which will surely end up having massive aftershocks across the Mediterranean in the coming weeks and months.
Late last night, 73 officers from the Armed Forces of Malta together with the Civil Protection Department began their journey to Libya, taking with them everything from vehicles to dinghies.
Here’s hoping the international rescue effort helps soften the blow of what is turning out to be one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest natural disasters in recent memory.
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