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
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned that three and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has entered an even more dangerous and deadly stage for Ukrainian civilians, under relentless bombardment of their schools, hospitals, and shelters.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , ICRC
Quadcopter victims, terror and death: 30 minutes in a Gaza hospital
UN aid teams on Friday highlighted the disturbing situation in Gaza’s makeshift hospitals, where premature babies cry for scant oxygen and medics attempt to save child survivors targeted by airstrikes in their tents and quadcopter victims reportedly shot while fetching bread.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday delivered his oral update to the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session on the human rights situation in Haiti.
The High Commissioner welcomed Wednesday’s decision of the UN Security Council to strengthen the Multinational Security Support mission by transitioning to the Gang Suppression Force for Haiti, stating it is a strong signal of international support for the Haitian people.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: As world waits for US peace plan news, UN aid teams stress need for ceasefire
UN agencies reiterated calls for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to help alleviate Palestinian suffering, as a new US 20-point plan raised hopes of a halt to the fighting.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm the war-torn enclave’s medical professionals, with four more hospitals forced to shut down this month alone, the UN World Health Organization said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
A UN Human Rights report released today details the dire situation of thousands of civilians detained since Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine in 2022.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
Sudan war: Life-saving cholera vaccination campaign begins in Darfur
Amid the devastating war in Sudan, UN aid teams are overcoming major obstacles to curb a cholera outbreak claiming lives across the country, with young children particularly at risk.
2
1
2
Edited News , B-roll | UN WOMEN
Women and girls still reeling from Afghanistan's recent deadly earthquake face even greater suffering rebuilding their lives and livelihoods without much more help from the international community, UN Women said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Rising civilian casualties, growing ethnic violence and the grim humanitarian situation in Sudan underscore how the crisis there is deepening, according to a UN Human rights report published today.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNITED NATIONS
United Nations agencies staff demonstrates on Place des Nations in Geneva to denounce the killing of their colleagues in Gaza.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
The world’s water resources face growing pressure from climate change while emergencies related to the vital resource are increasingly impacting lives and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk addressed the Human Rights Council during a meeting on the Israeli strike on negotiators in Qatar on Tuesday. “Israel’s strike on negotiators in Doha on 9 September was a shocking breach of international law, an assault on regional peace and stability, and a blow against the integrity of mediation and negotiating processes around the world,” he said.