Libya Flood Response Flash Appeal Final Report Sept 2023 - June 2024 (Issued November 2024) [EN/AR]

Crisis Overview

On the night of 10 September 2023, Storm Daniel affected northeastern Libya with torrential rains and flash floods impacting multiple cities and towns – including Derna, Al-Bayda, Soussa and Shahat municipalities. Storm Daniel hit Derna hardest, where the burst of two dams caused the release of a devastating flood wave sweeping through the city center. The floods further caused the breaking down of key connectivity roads and power outages within several municipalities.

Overall, the disaster killed more than 5,923 people1 and initially displaced some 44,862 individuals while thousands are still missing. OCHA estimated that 250,000 individuals were directly affected by the floods and required urgent humanitarian support spanning shelter, health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), food, non-food items (NFIs) and education. The floods also led to significant mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) needs, with survivors experiencing trauma, anxiety, and stress due to the loss of lives, livelihoods, and displacement.

Newly female-headed households, persons with disabilities and unaccompanied or separated children counted amongst the most vulnerable groups. While the Libyan authorities provided compensations to internally displaced people, non-Libyans, especially refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants, among the affected people still required international support and protection.

The pre-existing humanitarian situation, with some 60,000 people in the affected areas assessed to require humanitarian assistance prior to the storm according to the 2023 Libya Humanitarian Overview,2 deteriorating socio-economic conditions alongside with logistical and access constraints further exacerbated the severity of humanitarian needs.

Flash Appeal

On 14 September 2023, responding to urgent requests for international help issued by Libyan authorities and people across the country in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs launched a USD 71.4 million Flash Appeal to address the most urgent needs of 250,000 affected people. The USD 10-million allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) helped jumpstart efforts to deliver life-saving aid to those affected.

Fully funded, the Flash Appeal was initially launched for the September-December 2023 period and was later extended twice until 30 June 2024 to meet residual humanitarian needs and to allow for a smooth transition to recovery and sustainable development efforts, including through a dedicated recovery plan and the United Nations Sustainable Development Coordination Framework for Libya (2023-2025).

The initial Flash Appeal focused on five governorates as areas of operation – namely, Derna, Benghazi, Tobruk, Al-Majr and Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar, and was extended as of January 2024 to Ejdabia – also affected by the storm -, as well as Tripoli and Misrata – which hosted four percent of the 44,862 displaced persons.