The report, which called the Daniel storm “the deadliest in Africa since 1900”, put the death toll at “4,352 confirmed dead, more than 8,000 missing and around 250,000 people” still in need of humanitarian aid in December 2023.
On Wednesday January 24, the governmental Authority for the Search and Identification of the Missing reported that it had received a new group of 5,000 DNA samples taken from remains pulled from the rubble, the sea or buried in mass graves around Derna.
Almost 44,800 people have also been displaced by the disaster, including 16,000 children, and their access to healthcare and education has deteriorated. “The housing sector was hard hit, with around 18,500 homes destroyed or damaged, equivalent to 7% of the housing stock”, according to the report.
The floods also had a major impact on the transport and water supply sectors, as well as on the country’s cultural heritage, according to the experts. In addition to assessing reconstruction needs, the RDNA has estimated the material damage and economic losses (businesses and farms destroyed) caused by the floods at 1.65 billion dollars, or “3.6% of Libya’s GDP in 2022”.
In this country plagued by political instability since 2011, two rival governments are vying for power. One is based in Tripoli, the capital, and is recognized by the UN. The other is based in the east, under the control of Marshal Khalifa Haftar.