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Storm Daniel caused devastating floods in Libya that broke dams and swept away entire neighborhoods in multiple coastal towns, the destruction appeared greatest in Derna city. PA

Nearly 4,000 dead after Libya floods and thousands more missing

The Mediterranean coastal city of Derna was hit by a huge flash flood late on Sunday.

LAST UPDATE | 13 Sep 2023

LIBYA IS REELING from a massive flood that has left nearly 4,000 people dead and thousands more missing.

Relief missions gathered pace today, with Turkey, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates among the first nations to rush aid to the war-scarred country after the disaster that also displaced tens of thousands.

The Mediterranean coastal city of Derna was hit by a huge flash flood late on Sunday that witnesses likened to a tsunami after two upstream dams burst when torrential rains brought by Storm Daniel battered the region.

Footage broadcast by state media showed an apocalyptic landscape in the city, with debris littering streets and people lifting sheets off bodies lying on sidewalks to try to identify them.

Satellite images of Derna after the surge of water showed coastal neighbourhoods almost entirely submerged.

The United Nations has pledged $10 million in support for survivors, including at least 30,000 people it said had been left homeless in Derna.

Officials fear the death toll could exceed 5,000 in the nation made vulnerable by years of turmoil and neglect.

The floods have displaced at least 30,000 people, the UN migration agency said.

The International Organisation for Migration said that the flooding caused significant infrastructure damage in the city of Derna, which is almost inaccessible for humanitarian aid workers.

Storm Daniel caused deadly flooding in many eastern towns, but the worst-hit was Derna. As the storm pounded the coast on Sunday night, Derna residents said they heard loud explosions when the dams outside the city collapsed.

a-general-view-of-the-city-of-derna-is-seen-on-tuesday-sept-12-2023-mediterranean-storm-daniel-caused-devastating-floods-in-libya-that-broke-dams-and-swept-away-entire-neighborhoods-in-multiple-c A general view of the city of Derna following the flooding. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The startling devastation pointed to the storm’s intensity, but also Libya’s vulnerability.

The country is divided by rival governments, one in the east, the other in the west, and the result has been neglect of infrastructure in many areas.

The confirmed death toll reached 3,840 by Wednesday afternoon, said Lieutenant Tarek al-Kharraz, spokesman for the eastern-based government’s interior ministry.

The figure includes 3,190 victims who have already been buried and at least 400 foreigners, mostly from Sudan and Egypt, Kharraz told AFP, adding 2,400 people were still missing.

Some media reports have quoted officials giving higher tolls.

Tamer Ramadan of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Tuesday “the death toll is huge” and is likely to grow.

He added the organisation had independent sources saying that “the number of missing people is hitting 10,000 persons so far”.

embedded1f13acc8680e4155a37ab08fab56c424 A satellite photo shows flooding in Derna, Libya. PA PA

The floods damaged or destroyed many access roads to Derna, hampering the arrival of international rescue teams and humanitarian assistance to tens of thousands of people whose homes were destroyed or damaged.

“The city of Derna was submerged by waves seven metres high that destroyed everything in their path,” said Yann Fridez, head of the delegation of the International Committee for The Red Cross in Libya. “The human toll is enormous.”

Local emergency crews, including troops, government workers, volunteers and residents, continued digging through rubble looking for the dead.

They also used inflatable boats and helicopters to retrieve bodies from the water and inaccessible areas.

Bulldozers have worked over the past two days to fix and clear roads to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid and heavy equipment urgently needed for the search and rescue operations.

libya-floods The storm caused deadly flooding in many eastern towns, but the worst-hit was Derna. AP AP

Oil-rich Libya is still recovering from the war and chaos that followed the NATO-backed uprising which toppled and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

The country has been left divided between two rival governments — the UN-brokered, internationally recognised administration based in Tripoli, and a separate administration in the disaster-hit east.

Derna is ringed by hills and bisected by a riverbed that is usually dry in summer, but which became a raging torrent that also destroyed several bridges.

Mudslides and flooding also hit nearby areas where aid group the Norwegian Refugee Council said “entire villages have been overwhelmed by the floods”.

Erik Tollefsen, head of the weapon contamination unit at the International Committee of the Red Cross, warned of risks posed by landmines planted during the war.

“Derna flood waters have shifted unexploded ordnance into areas previously free of weapon contamination. This means more risk for survivors and those providing humanitarian assistance,” Tollefsen said on X, formerly Twitter.

Several nations offered urgent aid and rescue teams to help address what one UN official called “a calamity of epic proportions”.

Rescue teams from Turkey have arrived in eastern Libya, authorities said. Algeria, France, Italy, Qatar and Tunisia also pledged to help.

The UAE sent two planes carrying 150 tonnes of aid.

The European Union said assistance from Germany, Romania and Finland had been dispatched.

A Kuwaiti flight took off Wednesday with 40 tonnes of supplies, the IFRC said.

Palestinian media reported a rescue mission had left from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, and Jordan sent a military plane loaded with food parcels, tents, blankets and mattresses.

Climate experts have linked Libya’s disaster to a combination of the impacts of a heating planet and the country’s years of political chaos and underinvestment in infrastructure.

Hurricane-strength Mediterranean storms such as Daniel — which earlier hit Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece — are known as “medicanes” which can gain strength as warmer air absorbs more moisture.

Climate-linked extreme weather events tend to be the deadliest in strife-torn and poor countries that lack good infrastructure, early warning systems and strong emergency response services.

As the world heats up, Libya’s disaster “is illustrative of the type of devastating flooding event we may expect increasingly in the future,” said University of Bristol climate science professor Lizzie Kendon.

© AFP 2023

Additional reporting by Press Association

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    Mute Lisa Jones
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    Jul 25th 2022, 9:21 AM

    Just imagine if somehow the Dart could miraculously make it’s way Dublin Airport

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    Mute Zack Twamley
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    Jul 25th 2022, 10:56 AM

    @Lisa Jones: this. I don’t understand why it hasn’t happened, when we’re virtually the only European capital without one.

    108
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    Mute Ajax Penumbra
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    Jul 25th 2022, 12:08 PM

    @Zack Twamley: No we’re not. Not even virtually.

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    Mute Tony Stanley
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    Jul 25th 2022, 12:16 PM

    @Ajax Penumbra: well we are one of the few cities with an airport of (in normal times) such high demand without a rail connection.

    37
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    Mute Paul Maguire
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    Jul 25th 2022, 9:24 AM

    There are other counties outside of Dublin, that need an upgrade of Rail services… As we are being constantly told by the Green Party to leave our cars at home and take public transport as we seem most of the public transport is non-existent in the rural areas

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    Mute John Mulligan
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    Jul 25th 2022, 10:12 AM

    @Paul Maguire: yep, Dublin Dublin Dublin.

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    Mute Ciaran O'Mara
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    Jul 25th 2022, 10:23 AM

    @Paul Maguire: we need to start at the beginning. Electrifying the railway out to Maynooth and Dunboyne, big population centres, is a first step. It doesn’t preclude other developments.

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    Mute Nicholas McMurry
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    Jul 25th 2022, 11:30 AM

    @Paul Maguire: They have opened the rail link from Cork to Midleton and I think more stations on the Cork network are in the pipeline but Limerick has huge potential for commuter rail, including a possible link to Shannon, Galway network should be extended to Tuam.

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    Mute Tomo
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    Jul 25th 2022, 11:58 AM

    @Ciaran O’Mara: Think Navan and Naas are much much larger population centres than Maynooth and Dunboyne.

    31
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    Mute Tony Stanley
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    Jul 25th 2022, 12:21 PM

    @Paul Maguire: this might shock you.

    For heavy rail infrastructure, Dublin has had nothing but piecemeal development for the last few decades. The last major change was the extension of the dart to Malahide and Greystones which only added a few extra miles. Same with Dunboyne. Other then that we’ve had the existing infrastructure with a few capacity enhancements.

    Outside of Dublin however there has been lots of development including the doubling of track on the cork line, extension of commuter services to Middleton, the western rail corridor and a significant upgrade to the intercity and regional rail stock serving communities throughout the country.

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    Mute Séan Ó Nuanáin
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    Jul 25th 2022, 9:10 AM

    Still nothing for Navan town?

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    Mute Ed Cooper
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    Jul 25th 2022, 11:46 AM

    @Séan Ó Nuanáin: and to be fair it wouldnt take that much to run it as far as Navan. Shoud be prioritised.

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    Mute Daniel Muldoon
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    Jul 25th 2022, 12:58 PM

    @Séan Ó Nuanáin: I actually emailed the Department of Transport about getting the train station up and running and i was told that it was not financially viable.

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    Mute Scorcher Bois Gris
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    Jul 25th 2022, 1:26 PM

    @Daniel Muldoon: fair play to you for being proactive at least!

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    Mute Diar O Doc
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    Jul 25th 2022, 9:22 AM

    What about a DART+ North West to Donegal

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    Mute Daniel Muldoon
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    Jul 25th 2022, 1:01 PM

    @Diar O Doc: Anything north west of Dublin would be nice but i do agree they should be running a line all the way to Donegal. I live in Cavan and our only options are car or bus (If you can find one where you are going).

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    Mute Luan Willis
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    Jul 25th 2022, 2:47 PM

    @Diar O Doc: Unfortunately the population density outside of the greater Dublin area does not support a high capacity rail traffic network.

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    Mute James Heffernan
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    Jul 25th 2022, 10:08 AM

    Covering all the same stations that are already catered for (Maynooth line)..Struggling to see the huge advantages of this..

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    Mute Ciaran O'Mara
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    Jul 25th 2022, 11:16 AM

    @James Heffernan: twice the number of trains, bigger trains, electric not diesel, no level crossings, much safer and more efficient signaling, inter-run wth existing dart.

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    Mute James Heffernan
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    Jul 25th 2022, 11:37 AM

    @Ciaran O’Mara: Sounds like a lot of nothing to me..When taking into account other services around the country the service what we have at the moment is grand..It’s not like we are going from a grand service to a state of the art service, we are going from a grand service to something a small bit better. Not something to get overly excited over..

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    Mute James Heffernan
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    Jul 25th 2022, 11:38 AM

    @Ciaran O’Mara: Thanks for highlighting the changes though.

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    Mute Daniel Muldoon
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    Jul 25th 2022, 1:02 PM

    @James Heffernan: Its just to give them good press to make it look like they are actually doing something.

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    Mute dreiglaser
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    Jul 25th 2022, 11:45 AM

    40km of electricity poles and one new station. They would call that a day’s work in China or Japan.

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    Mute Jon Kelly
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    Jul 25th 2022, 10:14 AM

    “End to commuting and congestion”? Have you ever been on a Dart or train in the morning? Stacked tins of sardines have more personal space

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    Mute Mark McCormack
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    Jul 25th 2022, 11:48 AM

    Its about time they upgraded those lines. The only problem is they are talking about a depot west of Maynooth which means the depot itself will be in Kilcock. So the town of Kilcock will have to deal with all the negetives of a depot and receive none of the positives. I dont see why they cannot provide the service from Kilcock. The population of that town has doubled in the last 10 years and still there is nothing being built in the town only more housing estates. Theres no longer room in the schools there for kids. Why is Ireland so backwards.

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    Mute dreiglaser
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    Jul 25th 2022, 6:34 PM

    @Mark McCormack: then the depot would have to be other side of Kilcock and someone from Enfield would be saying what you’re saying now.

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    Mute Hugh Mc Donnell
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    Jul 25th 2022, 10:57 AM

    So is navan getting left out again

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    Mute Christine Downey
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    Jul 26th 2022, 2:55 PM

    @Hugh Mc Donnell: and Wicklow/Arklow.

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    Mute Paul Maguire
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    Jul 25th 2022, 9:24 AM

    There are other counties outside of Dublin, that need an upgrade of Rail services… As we are being constantly told by the Green Party to leave ourselves at home and take public transport as we seem most off the public transport is non-existent in the rural areas

    31
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    Mute Terri MacDonald
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    Jul 25th 2022, 11:30 AM

    Coolmine and Clonsilla stations are useless to a large section of D15 unless you have a car. Only bus that even goes near them is the 39 and that’s not a frequent service (and is not timed to work with the train timetable) I’m all for this, but would like to be able to actually get to a train station!

    29
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    Mute joe oneill
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    Jul 25th 2022, 9:51 AM

    I’ll certainly be attending the next FFG golf day,best to get in early…..

    23
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    Mute Alan Dignam
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    Jul 25th 2022, 9:35 AM

    What about the level crossings at Coolmine and Clonsilla to mention just two, are they going to close them off ???. Ashtown another one.

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    Mute Bri Lyons
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    Jul 25th 2022, 9:51 AM

    @Alan Dignam: Ashton level crossing being replaced with tunnel … Coolmine level crossing being kept

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    Mute Reuben Gray
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    Jul 25th 2022, 9:52 AM

    @Alan Dignam: Ashtown for sure is being re-done with new road layout and bridge so there won’t be a level crossing.

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    Mute Max Bailey
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    Jul 25th 2022, 1:44 PM

    @Alan Dignam: it says six level crossings to close so that would be all of them to maynooth. (Ashtown, coolmine, porterstown, clonsilla, barberstown and blakestown.)

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    Mute Susan O'flaherty
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    Jul 25th 2022, 11:49 AM

    what about metro.

    12
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    Mute dreiglaser
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    Jul 25th 2022, 6:36 PM

    @Susan O’flaherty: what about it? This is for the DART?

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    Mute Martin Forde
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    Jul 25th 2022, 3:52 PM

    Said the same thing 20 years ago about Drogheda an Dundalk, population of over 100,000 people still waiting.

    10
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    Mute John Kelly
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    Jul 25th 2022, 3:22 PM

    Luas to Tallaght spends miles running along the Grand Canal and the up the middle of the Naas Road and then skirts around Kingswood. So I wouldn’t necessarily assume the majority of people would live beside a new track anyway

    8
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    Mute Karl Phillips
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    Jul 25th 2022, 8:36 PM

    Might try sorting out what we have at present, packed rolling stock and cannot open the windows. Third World.

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    Jul 25th 2022, 8:34 PM

    There used to be a line from Tullow to Dublin that had a station at the end of the road. Incredible to think that you could live in the countryside and not need a car.

    5
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