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 | WHO
No evacuation order given before Kamal Adwan Hospital strike, says WHO
One of the last partially functional health centres in northern Gaza was reportedly hit again overnight into Friday by several strikes, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has called on the Georgian authorities to respect and protect the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly following several nights of protests that were marred by violence, and dispersed using disproportionate, and in some cases unnecessary, force by the police in the capital, Tbilisi.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said today he was extremely concerned about the recent escalation in hostilities in northwest Syria, which further compounds the suffering endured by millions of civilians.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO , OCHA
Syria escalation: Civilians face deadly attacks, health care in distress and aid access compromised
The ongoing escalation of violence in northwest Syria linked to the wider conflict in Gaza and Lebanon has left civilians dead and injured, hospitals “overwhelmed” and attacks on healthcare on the rise, the UN warned on Tuesday.
2
1
4
Press Conferences , Edited News | OCHA
Multiple unending conflicts, climate change and a glaring disregard for long-established international humanitarian law are set to leave a staggering 305 million people in need of lifesaving assistance next year, the UN’s top aid official warned on Wednesday.
Embargo Wednesday, 4 December 2024 at 0600 CET / 0000 ET
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Rights Office on Friday warned about the plight of civilians in Ukraine after further attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure.
1
1
1
Edited News | ITU
An international panel has been set up to protect undersea communications cables that are crucial for international trade and security, the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said on Friday. The creation of the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience comes amid an ongoing investigation into the severing of two fibre optic cables in the Baltic Sea, in less than 24 hours between 17 and 18 November.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | ITU
An estimated 5.5 billion people have access to the internet in 2024, an increase of 227 million people based on revised estimates for 2023, the UN specialized agency for telecommunications, ITU, said on Wednesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNAIDS
Launch of World AIDS Day Report 2024—Take The Rights Path
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
A joint report issued this morning by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) paints a disturbing picture of the media landscape in the country since the Taliban takeover. UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk says.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN human rights chief Volker Türk lent his weight to growing ceasefire calls in Lebanon on Tuesday, amid reports that the senior Israeli cabinet members were due to meet on a deal to end more than a year of conflict with Hezbollah militants, sparked by the war in Gaza