PREVENTABLE

Dams at Center of Libyan Floods Hadn’t Been Repaired in Decades

The Libyan government had apportioned $1.3 million to maintain the dams, but the funds vanished amid political disputes.

The flood disaster in Libya that killed thousands may have been preventable with officials saying that dams hadn’t been repaired in two decades. According to a 2021 report from the Libyan State Audit Bureau, verified by The Wall Street Journal, the dams were constructed in the 1970s and $1.3 million that had been apportioned for their maintenance had simply disappeared. In 2021, Libya designated $335 million to restore the cities of Benghazi and Derna after constant fighting in the late 2010s, but a large chunk of the money was tied up in political disagreements that resulted in the leader of the rebuild effort leaving the project in 2022. “What money was allocated [for the dams’ reconstruction] was misappropriated and the rampant corruption shifted whatever money was spent to things that serve those holding the decision-making power,” said Mohammed Ali Abdallah, the special envoy to the U.S. of the government in Tripoli. Storm Daniel overpowered the dams in Derna on Monday, leading to catastrophic flooding that killed more than 6,000 people, with thousands more missing. On Thursday, Libya’s prosecutor began a criminal inquiry into the people responsible for the dams that collapsed.