The International Organization for Migration, IOM, reported that more than 43,000 people had been displaced as a result of the floods in Libya, which killed thousands in the city of Derna.
A tsunami-sized flash flood broke through two ageing river dams upstream from the city after heavy rains lashed the area on September 10. It razed entire neighbourhoods, sweeping untold thousands into the Mediterranean Sea.
The official death toll is over 3,300, but the actual number is anticipated to be far higher with up to 10,000 people still missing, according to international aid organizations.
An estimated 43,059 individuals have been displaced by the floods in northeastern Libya,” the IOM said, adding that a “lack of water supply is reportedly driving many displaced out of Derna” to other areas. Urgent needs include food, drinking water and mental health and psychosocial support,” it added.
Following protests on Monday, where irate residents blamed the government for the high death toll, mobile and internet services were finally restored on Thursday after a two-day interruption.
The national telecom company said communications were down as a result of “a rupture in the optical fibre” link to Derna, but some internet users and analysts charged there had been a deliberate “blackout”.
Recall that earlier week, the United Nations warned that disease outbreaks could bring “a second devastating crisis” to the flood-hit areas.
Local officials, aid agencies and the World Health Organization “are concerned about the risk of disease outbreak, particularly from contaminated water and the lack of sanitation”, the UN said.
