Libyan Floods

Author: Daily Times

At least 2300 lives have been lost as thousands more reported missing after a powerful storm triggered devastating flash floods in Libya. Whole neighbourhoods were swept away, two huge dams forced open, hospitals no longer deemed workable and dead bodies rotting in the open, the deadly storm is the latest in an unprecedented year of climate disasters. It is said to be the result of a similarly strong, low-pressure system that had ravaged Greece last week. While communication remains suspended, not much can be expected from a state mired in a decades-old power struggle at the centre. At a time when exemplary unity and a cohesive policy are needed to coordinate rescue operations and come up with a viable line of action to preserve the existing infrastructure, the country’s complex political identity would serve as yet another stumbling block for the bruised and battered nation. That there exist two governments – an interim, internationally recognised one operating from the capital and Libyan National Army’s puppet parliament sitting in the east and, more pertinently, the epicentre of the storm – is making relief efforts extraordinarily stressful. There does not exist any functioning department on the ground and therefore, the relevant administrations are finding it tremendously hard to cope up with the natural disaster, let alone respond with agility.

While the long-drawn-out internal chaos carries the budget for crippled infrastructure and little to no resilience to extreme weather events, the blame game can wait once those who survived the lethal waves have been saved. With at least seven thousand critically injured and many more still languishing under the rubble, every minute counts and every life matters. It is, indeed, a calamity of epic proportions and therefore, the international community would have to play its due part in relief operations. Derna, and by extension, all of Libya needs our support. Harrowing images from Libya tug at the heartstrings because of the similar scenes of death and devastation that Pakistan witnessed just last year. These seemingly neverending episodes of nature’s wrath are a stark reminder of how global warming is ready to pound down our door. If the world does not get its act together and initiate action on climate resilience and preparedness, deadly events will continue. It is no longer the question of Global South’survival because, like it or not, mother nature does not appear to abide by man-made divisions. *

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