LIBYA – GEOGRAPHY

News: 5,000 dead, 30,000 displaced: What made Libya’s floods so devastating

 

What's in the news?

       More than 5,000 people were killed, about 10,000 went missing, and 30,000 were displaced in Libya after torrential rains caused flooding that burst dams, swept away buildings and destroyed nearly a quarter of the eastern port city of Derna.

       The death toll is likely to rise significantly and may even double, a minister in the regional administration said, according to Reuters.

 

Key takeaways:

       Experts suggest three key factors such as extreme weather, vulnerable geography, and crumbling infrastructure — coalesced into one catastrophe, causing the most devastating floods to have hit North Africa in almost a century.

 

Libya:

       Libya is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa.

       It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest.

       Libya is a mostly desert and oil-rich country in northern Africa.