Flash floods swept across southern, western and northern Libya, destroying roads and bridges, sweeping away cars and leaving people dead by drowning. Rescue teams raced to evacuate stranded families as the interim Government of National Unity (GNA) declared a state of emergency.
Mizda and Nesma, in southwestern Libya, have faced dire conditions since Thursday. Floodwaters from overflowing valleys surged into homes, tore through roads and brought down high-voltage transmission towers, causing extensive damage to public and private property.
GNA’s Ministry of Local Government sent bulldozers and heavy trucks to both cities to help with rescue operations. A bridge between Mizda and the Tininai area collapsed, severing the road and isolating the area beyond it.
The ministry urged Mizda residents to stay home. The municipal council mobilized humanitarian aid and other support, including an air ambulance, to meet urgent needs in the city and its outskirts.
Nesma’s municipal media center declared the city a disaster area on Friday. Emergency teams were evacuating families trapped in flooded homes and searching for missing people, it said, warning that severe weather could continue in the coming hours.
Mizda General Hospital appealed for essential medical supplies on Friday morning, saying most had run out. It warned that it could not keep providing emergency care without an immediate delivery.
The Ambulance and Emergency Service said families in Nesma had fled to mountains and other high ground as water rushed through their homes.
Two people had been recovered dead and others were still missing, it said. All roads into the city were closed.
The General Water and Sanitation Company sent emergency crews from Khoms, in western Libya, on Friday to pump out floodwater and reopen roads.
In Ghadames, an emergency team rescued a Filipino engineer working for the Man-Made River Company after his vehicle broke down in a valley as floodwater began flowing through it, the Emergency Medicine and Support Center said on Thursday evening. He had been inspecting wells.
In northwestern Libya, the Bani Walid security directorate closed the road to Tarhuna because of flooding in Wadi Washtata. It warned drivers not to cross or approach the wadi.
Bani Walid General Hospital said it had urgently treated several people who had nearly drowned in the flood-hit Tininai area. It put its departments on heightened alert to handle emergencies around the clock.
The General Electricity Company in Tripoli activated its emergency operations room and put maintenance crews on alert to address faults that could affect the power grid.
Minister of State for Prime Minister and Cabinet Affairs Mohamed Ben Ghalboun said on Friday that he had ordered maximum readiness after heavy rain sent water into neighborhoods and homes and caused some valleys to overflow.
His instructions called for urgent coordination with affected municipalities, emergency medical care, drainage and road reopening, and steps to keep electricity, communications and water services running while protecting lives and property.
The Libyan Red Crescent said its central emergency operations room was monitoring the floods around the clock. Field teams were updating reports from its branches to assess humanitarian needs and coordinate the response.
It urged residents to heed weather warnings, avoid unnecessary travel during heavy rain and stay clear of valleys and flood channels.
