The number of victims of the storm in Libya rises to more than 880,000, leaving 40,000 displaced

More than 880,000 people have been affected in some way by the floods which devastated the eastern part of the country Libyaespecially the city of Derna and its surroundings, according to UN estimates, which also increases the preliminary number of displaced people due to the passage of Cyclone ‘Daniel’ to around 40,000.

Before the storm is overExperts already estimate that some 300,000 people were in need of humanitarian assistance in Libya and the authorities controlling the east of the country, the ground of the tragedy, have requested international assistance in a situation where the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA)) of the United Nations has described it as “catastrophic” in its latest report.

The VN is already unlocked 10 million dollars of emergency funds to speed up an initial response, but this appears insufficient given that 884,000 people in five provinces have been affected. The organization asks $71.4 million for staff to 250,000 of those affected in the next three months.

The exact extent of the tragedy is barely known, but the report points to the possibility 30% disappearance of what used to be Derna and of approximately 2200 buildings affected. In addition, some major roads remain blocked and disruptions to the electricity grid and other basic services persist.

The Derna area is home to the largest number of displaced people, almost 40,000, but the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has also confirmed that some of those left homeless have moved to more remote areas. In Benghazi, further west, there are already about 2,500 displaced people.

He UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has distributed blankets, plastic sheeting and kitchenware to 6,200 displaced families in Derna and Benghazi.