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Confirmed Death Toll from Libya Floods Tops 11,000 as U.N. Says Catastrophe Could Have Been Averted

HeadlineSep 15, 2023

In Libya, the death toll from catastrophic flooding in the coastal city of Derna has soared to 11,300. More than 10,000 others remain missing. Al Jazeera reports the two dams that burst early Monday amid unprecedented heavy rains were more than a half-century old and had not undergone maintenance since 2002. On Thursday, the U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization said most of the deaths could have been avoided if Libya had a normally operating meteorological service able to launch evacuations.

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