Help from the Disaster Relief Fund to people affected by the Libyan floods

The financial assistance from the Disaster Relief Fund, EUR 150,000, supports the work of the Libyan Red Crescent to help those who have lost their homes in the floods.

“Whole families have died and entire apartment buildings have been washed into the sea. The important thing right now is to continue the rescue efforts and help those who survived the flood. The survivors are in need of basic supplies, such as food, water and a roof over their heads, and contact with their remaining relatives and friends,” says Tiina Saarikoski, Director of International Operations at the Finnish Red Cross.

The Red Crescent rescue teams are looking for missing persons, evacuating those trapped, providing emergency accommodation, administering first aid to the injured and helping to bury the dead. The teams also provide emotional support and bring lost family members back together.

Red Crescent striving to mobilise more emergency aid teams

The natural disaster has struck the middle of an internal armed conflict in Libya, and the local helpers are also working in very difficult conditions.

“In the midst of a conflict it is essential that the Red Crescent is an impartial actor able to help in different parts of the country. Simply assessing the need for aid is difficult in a situation where telephone connections are not working and the roads are cut off. The mines and unexploded projectiles released by flooding waters threaten the safety of both those in need and those providing help,” Saarikoski says.

The Libyan Red Crescent alerted its local branches to prepare for storm damage even before Storm Daniel hit the coast, and the emergency aid teams were among the first to participate in the rescue work. The Red Crescent aims to quickly mobilise more teams to the flood-stricken areas.