Derna dam collapses

Derna dam collapses
DateSeptember 10–11, 2023
LocationWadi Derna, Derna District, Libya
CauseStorm Daniel, global warming, engineering flaws, policy errors, possible military damage from preceding battles
Deaths5,923 (confirmed)[1][2][3][4]
14,000–24,000 (estimated)[5]
Missing8,000+[2][3][4]
Property damageTwo dams collapsed, thousands of properties destroyed

The Derna dam collapses were the catastrophic failures of two dams in Derna, Libya, on the night of 10–11 September 2023, in the aftermath of Storm Daniel. The collapse of the Derna Dam and the Abu Mansour Dam released an estimated 30 million cubic meters (39 million cubic yards) of water,[6][7] causing flooding downstream as the Wadi Derna overflowed its banks.[8][9] The floods partially destroyed the city of Derna. The official death toll was 5,923,[1] but as many as 24,000 people may have died.[5] The event was the second-deadliest dam failure in history, after the 1975 Banqiao Dam failure in China.

  1. ^ a b "Libya Assistance Overview, April 2024". ReliefWeb. USAID. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Libya: Flood update Flash Update No.7 (23 September 2023) (as of 4pm local time) [EN/AR]". reliefweb.int. 24 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Libya: Flood Response Humanitarian Update (As of 10 October 2023) [EN/AR]". reliefweb.int. 11 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Libya: Flood Response Humanitarian Update (as of 15 December 2023) - Libya | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b "A year on, rebuilding Libya's flood-hit Derna plagued by politics". Al-Monitor. 7 September 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Why did Derna's dams break when Storm Daniel hit Libya?". Aljazeera. 13 September 2023. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference decade was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Magdy, Samy (12 September 2023). "10,000 people are missing and thousands are feared dead as eastern Libya is devastated by floods". AP News. Archived from the original on 12 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Libya: Flash Floods In Derna". Barron's. 12 September 2023. Archived from the original on 12 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.