Storm Daniel affected Libya, a country located in Northeastern Africa bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Last Saturday, strong winds and rainfall arrived in the nation, and by Sunday cities such as Derna were flooded, and multiple buildings were destroyed. According to the Associated Press, massive floodwaters killed approximately 11,000 people and there are 10,000 citizens missing. Unfortunately, the population was not evacuated in time and organizations such as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) criticized the Libyan government. The WMO Secretary-General, Petteri Taalas, said, “Casualties in the major floods in Libya could have been avoided if the country had a functional meteorological service able to issue warnings.”
The situation is becoming unlivable for thousands of Libyans who tried to rescue civilians by themselves and who are seeing how entire families have died. As Reuter said, “Rescue work is hindered by the political fractures in a country of 7 million people at war on-and-off and with no government holding nationwide reach since a NATO-backed uprising toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.”
Malak Almughrbi and May Almughrbi are two Libyan international students at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Malak is pursuing her Master’s in Business Analytics and May is an undergraduate student studying Entertainment Management.
When Malak heard about the storms, she called her family and noticed that neither the officials nor the civilians were prepared. “This is the first storm that hit Libya, so they didn’t even know how to prepare or what to do. This is a first for them and that is why they were not really prepared for it,” Malak said. A couple of days later, everything changed. These two sisters feel as if the country where they were born is plummeting into the water with many human lives. “I feel terrible and sad because these people could still be alive. Our sewage system is really bad. The government didn’t invest in building better streets, and if they did, maybe the natural disaster wouldn’t have affected us that much,” said May. On Wednesday, some countries such as Qatar, Italy, and Egypt sent supplies and rescue teams to overcome the crisis and help the civilians.
“I feel terrible and sad because these people could still be alive. Our sewerage system is really bad. The government didn’t invest in building better streets, and if they did, maybe the natural disaster wouldn’t have affected us that much.”
May Almughrbi
Finally, May added “I really want people to know that Libya is a beautiful country. We are just unlucky. We have many problems such as the government not having closed boards. I really hope one day Libya will be safe, and people get to see how beautiful Libya is.”
Currently, civilians are continuing to fight the flooding while resources from other countries are shipped and tend to those in need.