The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has issued a dire warning about a public health catastrophe that is rapidly getting worse in flood-affected areas of Libya, with a focus on the people of Derna.
According to the IRC, recent floods badly contaminated water supplies with sewage, making them unsuitable for consumption and posing serious health hazards to communities.
The committee claimed that Derna has already documented at least 55 children who have fallen ill as a result of tainted water.
On September 10, a strong storm known as Daniel, which had earlier pounded Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey, made landfall in Libya. In the mountains above the port of Derna, two dams collapsed, destroying vast urban areas home to almost 100,000 people.
IRC said that Derna has identified at least 55 kids who have been ill as a result of tainted water.
There is a need to curb the widespread spread of waterborne diseases that continue to plague the vulnerable population in Derna as a result of this contaminated water. Access to the impacted cities, including Derna, Sousse, Shahat, Al Marj, Al Bayada, and other rural communities, has been restricted by the floods’ devastation of roads and bridges.
Activists have come out to urge the development of new highways in the affected areas to ease aid and guarantee assistance.
As a result, there has been progress as regards reaching those difficult areas, as some sand roads are now being mended, leading to isolated communities that were hit by the flooding.