Hichem Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation and member of the emergency committee of the eastern administration of Libya, said one-quarter of Derna was completely wiped out. (Al Jazeera) What happened to Derna?ĭerna, a city of roughly 100,000 people, was left completely defenceless after the dams broke. The multiplied force of the water was only strengthened due to the elevation difference between the first and second dams, and the stream took the second dam down on its way to Derna and ultimately, the sea.Ĭoming down the river, the water travelled approximately 12km (seven miles) from the top of the first dam before it reached the sea.Įxperts estimate that 30 million cubic metres of water were released when the dams broke, equivalent to 12,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Not only did it have to deal with heavy rains that were still pouring down in the storm, but it was also hit with a raging wall of water released with force from behind the other dam. Once one dam collapsed, the second one was facing a losing battle. On the other hand, he told Al Jazeera, the dams were not very large, with the first dam only 70 metres (230 feet) tall. There were two major dams upstream from Derna that, for one, had not been maintained since 2002, according to Ahmed Madroud, the beleaguered city’s deputy mayor. So, why did the dams break, what happened to Derna, and what comes next? Why did the dams break? The dams caving under the pressure of water gathering behind them during the storm led to thousands of deaths in the port city alone. Keep reading list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Mapping Libya’s catastrophic flood damage in Derna after Storm Daniel list 2 of 4 Photos: The aftermath of a powerful storm and deadly floods in Libya list 3 of 4 Hundreds buried in mass graves as Libya reels from devastating flooding list 4 of 4 What’s happening in Libya after devastating Storm Daniel floods? end of list
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