Safety |
security reasons, as the city had been besieged by warring factions for several years. Although a ministry spokesman has since said that even if the work had been carried out the dams would still have failed, as Storm Daniel exceeded their capacity, but acknowledged the damage would not have been so severe. There are also various claims about funding of the
repairs and how money was allocated. In 2021 Libya’s Audit Bureau said the Water Resources Ministry had failed to move forward with the dam maintenance and although US$2.45million had been earmarked for the work, only some of the money had been deducted and there was uncertainty about how this had been spent.
Water at the heart “The tragedy highlights the philosophy behind the
Above: Rescue operations continue in the city of Derna Editorial credit: Hussein Eddeb /
Shutterstock.com
Below: On 10 September 2023, Storm Daniel swept across Derna City in Libya, bringing high winds and torrential rain that led to the collapse of two dams
“The fragmentation of the country’s disaster management and disaster response mechanisms, as well as deteriorating infrastructure, exacerbated the enormity of the challenges,” Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Professor Petteri Taalas, commented on the Libyan disaster. “The political situation is a driver of risk, as we are seeing in many countries currently.” Taalas was referring to the long-term political unrest in Libya where armed factions have been waging a war since Colonel Gaddafi was removed from power in 2011. It was such instability that is reported to have prevented a Turkish company from completing repairs to the two stricken dams. Reuters said that authorities tried to repair the dams back in 2007 after a study by the country’s Water Resources Ministry acknowledged the gravity of their situation. However the Turkish company contracted to carry out the work was unable to complete it for
Early Warnings for All initiative to improve the accuracy and availability of impact-based forecasts, and to ensure that they reach everyone and lead to action,” WMO’s Professor Taalas added. The Early Warnings for All campaign was recently
launched by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. WMO is partnering with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the International Telecommunications Union, the Red Cross and a range of other partners to ensure that early warnings reach everyone and lead to early action. They warn that as global warming continues, the expectation is that there will be more extreme rainfall events, leading to more severe flooding.
Another initiative which has been funded and supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is Water at the Heart of Climate Action – an ambitious partnership between the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, The Netherlands Red Cross, the United Nations Office for
26 | November 2023 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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