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As many as one in five residents died as devastating floods tore apart this Libyan port, officials feared. The death toll in Derna has already hit 11,300 \u2013 and it is believed that another 8,700 bodies may lie buried in the rubble.<\/p>\n
Experts from UN climate agency the World Meteorological Organisation said that Libya had failed to act on its warnings.<\/p>\n
WMO director-general Petteri Taalas said early action \u201ccould have avoided most\u201d of the casualties. The disaster came as two dams burst in Derna after Storm Daniel dropped a year\u2019s worth of rain on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The UN body said that alerts had been sounded 72 hours before the dams broke and it had contacted Libyan authorities.<\/p>\n
A day before the storm, Derna\u2019s mayor said areas near the dams should be evacuated \u2013 but an emergency committee set up by officials ordered a curfew instead.<\/p>\n
Libya\u2019s PM Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh has ordered public prosecutors to probe if negligence made the toll worse. The storm also killed 170 in the eastern towns of Bayda, Susa and Marj.<\/p>\n
Rescue workers fear that diseases will now run rife in ruined areas where foul floodwater is hiding rotting bodies. The corpses of victims who were washed out to sea are floating back to shore up to 60 miles away.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> Devastating before and after pictures from Libya show a city swept to sea<\/strong><\/p>\n Elie Abouaoun, the International Rescue Committee\u2019s country director for Libya, said: \u201cAccess to clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities will be required to prevent a further crisis within a crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n Derna\u2019s mayor Abdulmonem al-Ghaithi appealed for more body bags and corpse-recovery teams as local officials tried to bury as many of the dead as quickly as possible to avoid infection breaking out.<\/p>\n The aftermath of the flood was described as a deeply \u201cshocking\u201d catastrophe that is \u201cunimaginable in its consequences\u201d by top UN official Martin Griffiths.<\/p>\n The under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs added that the catastrophe was \u201ca massive reminder of climate and its presence\u201d. Mr Griffiths expected the capacity of nations to deal with such challenges would be \u201cstretched to the limit\u201d.<\/p>\n He said a disaster co-ordination team had been sent from earthquake-hit Morocco to Libya.<\/p>\n Mr Griffiths said a decade of civil war in the North African country had contributed to the impact of the flood as \u201c300,000 people already needed aid\u201d before the dams failed.<\/p>\n The UN has launched an appeal for more than \u00a357million to help victims of the flood.<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n