The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | IOM , WHO
Libya: humanitarian response ramps up as floods of "epic proportions" leave thousands dead, missing
Libya: humanitarian response ramps up as floods of 'epic proportions' leave thousands dead, missing
UN agencies and partners are responding to the disaster unfolding in Libya after extreme rainfall caused devastating flooding and loss of life over the weekend, humanitarians told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.
An estimated 3,000 people have died and up to 10,000 people have been reported missing in the massive floods triggered by Hurricane Daniel, which overwhelmed the eastern parts of the country on 10 September, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said.
“The hurricane Daniel hit the eastern part of Libya two days ago and left behind thousands and thousands of affected populations between death, stranded and lost during the hurricane”, said Tamer Ramadan, Head of IFRC delegation in Libya. “We are responding on the ground through our partners from the Libyan Red Crescent. The teams were deployed immediately once the hurricane hit the affected five cities.”
According to the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), two dams unleashed their waters during a heavy storm over the weekend, sweeping entire neighbourhoods in the city of Derna into the sea.
The storm reached a peak in northeastern Libya on Sunday, with strong winds of up to 80 kilometres per hour, interrupting communications and bringing down electricity towers and trees. Torrential rains of up to 240 millimetres caused flash flooding in several cities.
“The humanitarian needs are huge and much more beyond the abilities of the Libyan Red Crescent, and even beyond the abilities of the Government”, stressed Mr Ramadan who was speaking from Tunis via videoconference. “That’s why the Government in the east has issued an international appeal for support.”
Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said the flooding was of “epic proportions”.
“There’s not been a storm like this in the region in living memory, so it’s a great shock,” she said.
Dr Harris added that WHO has deployed prepositioned aid supplies to the affected areas. She estimated that torrential rain affected up to 1.8 million people and damaged and even “wiped out” some hospitals.
“The work now is really to get in supplies, sadly some of those supplies are things like body bags, but also trauma kits,” the WHO spokesperson said.
The Libyan Government has announced three days of mourning in all the affected cities, calling them ″disaster areas.″ Emergency responders, government workers and residents were digging through rubble to look for survivors.
“Our second priority is to look at the people who are displaced”, WHO’s Dr Harris said. “There are lots of people who are already living in precarious circumstances. And we have to look at what kind of field hospitals can be set up, and what kind of mobile clinics. So there’s a great deal of work that needs to be done and is being mobilized as I speak.”
Libya has become a key springboard for migrants from over 40 countries heading for Europe, who most likely have also been severely impacted by the floods, the UN migration agency (IOM) warned.
“There are roughly 600,000 migrants in Libya at this time and we are conscious that in some of the affected areas there are migrant populations but at this early stage and [given] the many access issues that we and humanitarian responders are facing, we don’t have a clear picture about how badly they have been affected”, said IOM spokesperson Paul Dillon. “But as part of the general population, you would expect the same impacts that the residents of that area have experienced over the last 24 hours and it will of course impact on the migrants who are living there as well.”
Oil-rich Libya has been in political chaos since long-serving rule Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in 2011. The country has been effectively split since 2014 between an interim, internationally recognized Government operating from the capital, Tripoli, and another one in the east, with many armed groups also operating on its territory. The two sides signed a ceasefire in 2020, but political rivalries continue.
-ends-
Includes video statements from the Human Rights Council 54th Session, 12 September, by:
- Dr. Lamia Fathi Abusedra, Permanent Representative of Libya to the United Nations Office at Geneva
- Ms. Hend Abdalrahman Al-Muftah, Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Office at Geneva
STORY: Libya floods
DURATION (TRT): 3:02"
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16/9
DATELINE: 12 September 2023, GENEVA SWITZERLAND
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley, UN Geneva
- Wide shot: speakers at podium and attendees at the press conference, screens with speaker
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Margaret Harris, WHO spokesperson: “Epic proportions, there’s not been a storm like this in the region, or so in living memory, so it’s a great shock.”
- Close shot: attendee at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Margaret Harris, WHO spokesperson: “Torrential rain to an area affecting at least 1.5 million to 1.8 million people. And it’s also damaged hospitals, it’s wiped out some hospitals, left some partially functioning. So the work now is really to get in supplies, sadly some of those supplies are things like body bags but also trauma kits. We did have supplies that were prepositioned, so they were already been deployed.”
- Wide shot: attendees, cameramen/women and sound engineers at the press conference, screens with speaker
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Margaret Harris, WHO spokesperson: “Our second priority is to look at the people who are displaced. It’s already mentioned that there are lots of people who are already living in precarious circumstances. And we have to look at what kind of field hospitals can be set up, and what kind of mobile clinics. So there’s a great deal of work that needs to be done and is being mobilized as I speak.”
- Wide shot: speakers at podium and attendees at the press conference, screens with speaker
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tamer Ramadan, Head of IFRC delegation in Libya: “Hurricane Daniel hit the eastern part of Libya two days ago and left behind thousands and thousands of affected population between death, stranded and lost during the hurricane. We are responding on the ground through our partners from the Libyan Red Crescent. The teams were deployed immediately once the hurricane hit the affected five cities.”
- Wide shot: attendees, cameramen/women and sound engineers at the press conference, screens with speaker
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tamer Ramadan, Tamer Ramadan, Head of IFRC delegation in Libya: “The humanitarian needs are huge and much more beyond the abilities of the Libyan Red Crescent, and even beyond the abilities of the Government. That’s why the Government in the east has issued an international appeal for support.”
- Wide shot: speaker, attendees, cameramen/women and sound engineers at the press conference, screens with speakers
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Paul Dillon, IOM spokesperson: “There are roughly 600,000 migrants in Libya at this time and we’re conscious that in some of the affected areas there are migrant populations but at this early stage and [given] the many access issues that we and humanitarian responders are facing, we don’t have a clear picture about how badly they have been affected. But as part of the general population, you would expect the same impacts that the residents of that area have experienced over the last 24 hours and it will of course impact on the migrants who are living there as well.”
- Medium shot: attendees at the press conference, screen with speaker
- Close shot: attendees at the press conference
- Medium shot: cameramen/women and sound engineers at the press conference
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM
Well over 1.3 million people have fled Sudan’s ongoing war for South Sudan, the UN migration agency, IOM, reported on Friday, amid rising violence and a massive humanitarian emergency linked to the country’s political crisis.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC , OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday presented to the 61st Human Rights Council his global update on the human rights situation.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday presented to the UN Human Rights Council a new report on the human rights situation in occupied Palestinian territory.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday briefed the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the human rights situation in Sudan: “Nearly three years of brutal conflict have almost turned Sudan into a land of despair. The report I am presenting today is yet another chapter in the chronicle of cruelty. It outlines clear, ongoing patterns of violence against civilians, including killings, rape, and torture. As the fighting has intensified, violations of international law by all parties to the conflict have surged, while accountability has remained practically absent,” he said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday told the Human Rights Council in Geneva today: “Afghanistan is a graveyard for human rights. The cascade of edicts and laws announced by the de facto authorities since coming to power in 2021 is having a crushing impact on the Afghan people, particularly women and girls.”
3
1
Edited News | UNITED NATIONS , OCHA , UNHCR
Ukraine enters fifth year of war: Attacks and displacement deepen human suffering amid mounting recovery challenges
On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, UN officials took stock of the immense human and economic toll of the conflict while appealing to the world to “never get used to war.”
2
27
2
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | General Assembly , UNITED NATIONS
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops on 24 February 2022 shattered the peaceful aspirations of an entire continent, but war must never be the new normal, UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday.
1
48
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
A ceremony marking the completion of the construction of the Portail des Nations, a soon-to-open visitors centre for the UN in Geneva, was held today for diplomats from around the world who have gathered in the Swiss city for the opening session of the Human Rights Council.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his opening remarks to the 61str session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
10
1
1
Edited News | HRC , SG
In Geneva, delegates from more than 120 countries gathered on Monday to mark 20 years of the UN Human Rights Council and a shared commitment to international law, amid runaway global instability and conflict, amid runaway global instability and conflict.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office has published a report on the grave human rights abuses suffered by the hundreds of thousands of people trafficked into scam operations mostly in southeast Asia.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Marta Hurtado briefed journalists on a UN report detailing child trafficking by gangs and how it is putting Haiti’s future at risk.