Although the flood waters have receded, tens of thousands of lives continue to be devastated by this month’s floods in eastern Libya.
More support is needed to provide aid to thousands of displaced families, rebuild homes and essential infrastructure, and help people cope with the psychological stress of the disaster.
Entire families have been destroyed in Derna, with reports of sixty people from one single family killed. Around 40,000 people are displaced, homeless and facing an uncertain future. They are now scattered across the east of the country and even as far as the capital Tripoli.
Children are supposed to be starting a new school term, but with over a quarter of schools in the affected municipalities either destroyed, severely damaged or rendered unusable by the floods many children will be left without anywhere to learn. A further 19 schools are still being used to shelter displaced families.
Other critical infrastructure is destroyed or badly damaged – especially water and sanitation systems. With the rainy season due to start, poor sanitation is likely to exacerbate the risks of diseases spreading.
Around 250,000 people are reportedly affected by the floods and being targeted for humanitarian assistance. There is also likely to be a devastating long term impact on people’s mental health after everything they have experienced.
Salah Aboulgasem, Islamic Relief’s deputy director of partner development, says:
“A close friend of mine in Derna has lost 60 members of their family. I was lost for words – how can you give condolences to people who have suffered that. Multiple generations all wiped out. A lot of people there live in a block of flats with different generations of the family on different floors, and some of those buildings have been completely destroyed.
“People have also been assisting the search and rescue operation and identifying bodies, which can be incredibly traumatic.
“Thousands of people are still missing and bodies of loved ones might never be recovered. We may never find out exactly what’s happened to many of these missing people.”
Thousands of people have been killed in the disaster and around 8,540 are still reported missing according to the UN. Islamic Relief is currently working with local partners to run a kitchen in Derna that is providing survivors with 39,000 hot meals over 30 days, and has distributed aid including blankets, mattresses and hygiene kits to more than 5000 people.
“The needs are many and those suffering must have support. We know that in Libya the people are very hospitable, and people across the country are very broken and hurt by this moment and they want to help their fellow Libyans,” Aboulgasem said.