'Essential Services' Still Sparse In Libya's Flood-ravaged Derna

Derna, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Sep, 2024) One year after a wall of water swept through eastern Libya's coastal city of Derna, killing thousands and causing devastation, reconstruction is under way but essential services are lacking, NGOs say.

On September 10, 2023, extreme rainfall from hurricane-strength Storm Daniel caused two dams to burst inland from Derna, which lies some 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) east of the capital Tripoli.

The flooding killed nearly 4,000 people, left thousands missing and displaced more than 40,000 others, according to the United Nations.

Near a now dry valley where people and rubble were swept away a year ago by the rushing floodwaters, cranes and trailers are busy.

Once home to around 120,000 inhabitants, Derna has become a vast construction site in which homes, schools, roads and bridges are all being rebuilt.

The whitewashed facades of the city's buildings had long contrasted with the blue of the Mediterranean. Today Derna is bleak with cinder blocks and the grey concrete of unfinished buildings.

"We expected things to go better," said Mohamed Azouz. "Work is moving slowly in our street, one of the worst-hit areas.

"We stayed on the street for a month, a month and a half" after the disaster, he added.