>> divided and embroiled in a civil war. libya is hit by devastating floods. thousands are dead and thousands more missing. how will the country deal with this disaster? how are political rivalries affecting it? this is inside story. ♪ hello and welcome to the program. a state of emergency in eastern libya. floods have killed thousands of people and left others unaccounted for.

entire neighborhoods underwater and trapped families need help. libya's political divisions are getting in the way. the countries to rival governments have their own resources in their own approach to this disaster. without a united response, rescue operations have been delayed. how will libya manage this devastation and can this crisis be a catalyst for political unity or will it flop -- because rivalry? first this report. reporter: overwhelming floods have swept into parts of eastern libya, swamping groats and taking thousands of lives. patients and medical staff were forced to evacuate several hospitals with floodwaters trapping many people. >> the situation is horrible. it's extremely sad. there are people suffering from the floods and we haven't been able to reach them. reporter: the hardest hit city is home to about 100,000 people.

there's devastation as far as the eye can see. two of the city's main dams collapsed, submerging much of the city and drowning residents. >> three bridges collapsed completely, causing water to spread into neighborhoods, entire areas moved to the sea along with their residence. reporter: collapsed infrastructure has delayed rescue error -- efforts. lifeless bodies can be seen everywhere. libya's political divisions are complicating rescue efforts. the country has two rival governments split between east and west. they are each supported by different armed groups in foreign governments. both sides are calling for aid and assistance. >> all official bodies should provide urgent financial support

so those carrying out their work can go ahead with the reconstruction. reporter: the number of victims dead and missing varies depending on which governments faction is asked. >> libya has to be rebuilt from scratch. we had 43 years of dictatorship. he never cared about the infrastructure. now also after the revolution, they are fighting for power and making things worse. reporter: in a country already struggling with political instability and poverty, this disaster adds another layer of anguish. despite their differences, both governments agree the death toll in eastern libya will likely rise significantly. ♪ >> let's bring in our guests.

in tripoli is --, political analyst and former senior advisor to the high council of stains and the libyan government in the national accord. -- is the founder and director of the sobbing institute. also in tripoli is --, unicef representative for lydia -- libya. thank you for joining us. what have you and your colleagues learned about the scale of the devastation thus far? do we have a clearer picture when it comes to the magnitude of this disaster? >> yes. when we started getting reports in the morning yesterday, it didn't look like this scale. we had 20 to 50 deaths and a few displays. then the reports started coming from the rep -- remote areas. they came really high. now they are talking about between 2000 and 5000 deaths.

20 to 30,000 displaced in dharna alone. when you're talking about several hundred displaced also in benghazi and other areas. the scale of this disaster is much higher than what was in the early hours of yesterday. two dams have collapsed. that's where the efforts are now. and by golly, the situation is calmer. the area effective -- affected is large. >> what have you and your colleagues been able to do thus far? has aid actually been able to reach any of those hardest hit areas as of yet? >> we are working with our partners to do major assessments

. that's this phase now. we send supplies from tripoli. they will be dispatch. we sent medical supplies for 10,000 people, hygiene kits for over 1000 people. this is a drop in the ocean compared to the needs of the ground. there will also be a u.n. interagency mission. some local partners are on the ground so we count on them also for the assessment. there will be a u.n. interagency assessment in the coming days. the situation is critical because of the numbers we talked about. the number of missing people is high. we expect high levels of family separations, shelter needs, water systems to be rehabilitated. the scale is really tremendous. >> when you talk about the scale of this right now, how much concern is there at this moment

that the number of dead, the number of missing, the number of displaced may rise exponentially in the days ahead? >> so the number of missing people is what is concerning. it is quite high. yesterday, they were talking about 10,000 people. that's a really concerning thing. it's true that the electricity was cut off. it may be that many people were struggling in their houses and could not be reached. the number of 10,000 missing was really high. we expect unfortunately that these numbers will go up. only being on the ground will make a difference. we are really working with the authorities to facilitate all the access. they've been really great at allowing us to respond. for now, it's also the issue of transitioning out of humanitarian response.

we don't have a lot of supplies and resources at this time. our response was more development oriented. now we are focusing on getting those resources on the ground as soon as possible. >> how will libya actually be able to deal with this disaster? is libya prepared or equipped to deal with devastation of this magnitude? >> no. absolutely not. libya is not prepared in any way for such a disaster. this probably is unprecedented in recent libyan history. under circumstances of split governments and lack of infrastructure and lack of preparedness. the city of -- just 24 hours ago formed an emergency committee to deal with the disaster.

now we have these numbers, fantastic numbers coming out. i don't think there's anything on the ground to help the people. they are relying on their own to help themselves and no government help us come so far. >> how much do you know so far about what conditions are currently like? has any international aid been able to make it there? >> i didn't hear from relatives and friends. the death toll is rising every hour.

people can't do anything about what they see. this is -- the disaster is just tremendous. no one is helping. the government told them to set a curfew. people had to stay in their houses instead of giving them instructions on how to evacuate before the disaster hit. this is the magnitude of government complacency and government failure to deliver on basic needs of people of safety. >> you heard about the fact that libya has two rival governments. i want to ask you, how much more does that complicate the picture? how does that complicate rescue efforts? does that couple kate a delivery efforts? >> it certainly does complicate all those things. i would love to add that this is not just an act of god or mother nature being evil and cruel.

meteorologists gave us alerts ahead of time from greece where the storm killed six people. we had days and hours ahead of this to be able to prepare. there are responsibilities that go across those two governments. it's the local councils and local authorities, the libyan national army is responsible for what unraveled. they had dana's and hours as the dams began to's well slowly. didn't raise the alert. the opposite. this isn't just the people of mother nature. this is the evil of men. the incompetence and complacency of men that have enriched themselves for the last decade, waging war where they left accord quarter dead, injured, or

in jail. another quarter of the city is underwater. the stench of those dead bodies is not mother nature's fault. it's man's fault. these two rival factions. they can't coordinate. they have coordinated despite their conflict and their competition. when they are cooperating and collaborating, it does come to elections. the elections are important. not on a national level but a local level. local elections were planned over several weeks ago and they were blocked by the army because they didn't want anybody but military rule. there's the incompetence. fat old men with mustaches that have been eating donuts while libyans are floating across the street. the reason why they can't ordinate with international relief organizations, using libya's wealthy civil society, is because most of them were in jail. >> let me also ask you, we are

talking about --. even before the storm, what was the infrastructure like there? how prepared or ill-prepared was a place like that for a storm of this nature? >> number one, that was built in 1977 by yugoslav engineers. it hasn't been maintained and hasn't been maintained under the libyan national army. they've been scrapping libya's public infrastructure, the infrastructure that is supposed to make sure that water gets under the city and out over the city. they've been scrapping it into scrap metal and -- that they've exported to the tune of a billion dollars for every year since 2018. that's the relationship to the individuals, not only governing the city but have plundered the city and make sure that when the event did take place, it took the lives of a quarter of the

city. a quarter of it is underwater today. it comes into the un's own coronation as well. the u.n. last week came thunderstorm on twitter for having blocked human rights activists from the east of libya and the west of libya so they are also to blame. the west have been giving courtship and read carpet treatment to these individuals for a decade. shaking hands with individuals like those that are responsible for this. benefiting from hundreds of millions in funding from the tripoli government. where is there hundreds of millions today? why are they shaking hands with war criminals and trying to repackage them and recycle them for elections that will never happen after a decade of this? those local elections could have saved lives. let's not forget that point. it's not a luxury, it's a necessity.

they could have taken accurate, responsive accidents -- actions. >> from your point of view, is there any chance that this particular crisis could be a catalyst for any type of political unity going forward? is it only going to fuel this rivalry, this division even further? >> i hope something good comes out of this disaster. we see private cars and trucks carrying all sorts of materials to help the affected. it's a popular movement that's creating this. hopefully this will solidify the feeling among libyans that they are brothers and sisters in

times of trouble and they will come together. however, i doubt that the competing political and military powers in libya will learn many lessons from this, except that they have to hang onto power for as long as they can. we see the display of this when there's a meeting of the government officials that are supposed to be responsible for providing aid. the prime minister is sitting there like a student in the principal's office listening to a fake general giving orders and instructions and imparting his wisdom as to how to be with disasters and how to prevent disasters. that's the way they dealt with

this trouble. that's the way they dealt with it before it happened. now they are continuing that. so i don't see any positive thing politically coming out of this. maybe it will help libyans understand that they need to move against the political class that has presided over the country for the last 11 years. >> if i could just ask you, it's been widely reported in the past that humanitarian aid groups in libya have been chronically underfunded. from your perspective, how does that hamper a response that is needed at a time like this? what kind of impact does that have on a response at such a time of crisis? >> as i was just saying, we were shifting out of your humanitarian, keeping some preparedness and response to lower-level conflict. a lot of emergency funding is no longer there. the system was phasing out.

on that front, it's true that we don't have the same resources that sudan would have at this point in time. at the same time, it's true that we need to get out of the politics now and think about responding. there are a lot of people in need of help in the affected areas. so we have access. we need to get there. civil society, there are not plenty of organizations on the ground. it's also true that there are means in the government has resources compared to other governments to respond. we are here to help. we are thinking of the immediate lifesaving needs of children, talking about shelters, water, supplies, family tracing, all of that needs to happen quite fast. we are prepared for donors to provide resources because the scale is beyond the current capacity that we have, the current supplies that we have.

of course, we also count on internal resources to support us. ? let me ask -- >> age groups -- aid groups are saying tens of thousands of people made the -- may be displaced. there's a fear that they wouldn't have any prospect of being able to return home. what are the major concerns right now when it comes to those that have been displaced, reaching them, getting them the kind of aid, medical help, food that they might need? >> in terms of immediate lifesaving, it's about what resources are there now and what can be moved in as fast as possible. we are used to doing that. construction is another story. that would mean more longer-term resources for sure. there was a reconstruction fund.

we count on that to be fully operational and then applied. as i mentioned, there will be schools to be rebuilt and water systems also, health facilities. several hospitals and clinics are totally destroyed. the reconstruction that comes later requires resources that are beyond the current scale. requires development banks. i know there have been discussions including those financial institutions that can look at this internal displacement. in the last years, they reduced the number of internally reduced people. it was half of what it was a couple years ago. at the same time, this is another big challenge in terms of reconstruction. you are right. especially from a shelter and housing point of view. also for all essential services.

yes, we need financial institutions to come in for those longer-term resources. >> from your perspective, is there anybody either from within libya or outside that would be able to effectively handle overseeing an aid effort right now? >> no. short answer. no. there are lethal failures that happened ahead of this. that's what we have to focus on. they are the same failures that will hamper and cripple any attempt to be able to coordinate what requires search-and-rescue efforts, psychological support, international experts that will help in these critical areas now to try to find those that may still be alive. as the hours go down, the chances of them surviving will be little. those who are displaced need

shelter. epic proportions. what just happened was of biblical proportions. a quarter of the city is underwater. it is something we don't see a normal cities because they are built to withstand this kind of thing when they have instrument -- infrastructure. it's the collapse of all the other cities around it. it's the water that came from southern cities that was piling on for days. those cities are still affected. convoys moving across the country, no one deserves a pat on the back. they will be hampered by the rain and roads for hours. there's one road that leads in. imagine, it was the only road billed by smugglers because smugglers are the ones that had the roads built. the civilians don't. we have to start focusing on these failures now. the international community can't shirk its responsibility. it spends money on trying to keep libyans in libya, pushing them back onto the shore. it's absolutely not available

now. where are the european union efforts? the next time we see a european union official shaking hands, they are shaking hands with blood on them. they have blood on their hands as well. it's not about making it political. it's about shirking the responsibility from incompetent professionals and those allowing these watery graves that we see to perpetuate. there are thousands more that will suffer if they don't start acting now. if they still try to wear for -- work within these broken structures, it's not going to work. international efforts should be cord needed with local authorities. they need to work with individuals that are there. people are sharing the numbers across social media groups now. coordinating the lists of those dead and writing them on schoolbooks. that tells you about the level of court nation these rival factions have. the factions are putting out press statements and videos of themselves clearing up roads with rocks and putting it to

military parade music. that tells you about the priorities of these factions. don't ignore them. they have a great relationship with the government and easting and -- in eastern libya. why is the money only there when they are trying to help people dying in the mediterranean sea? why is it not there when libyans need them the most? >> i want to talk about the rivalries going on inside of libya. the country has two governments. they each have their own resources. they each would have their own approach to how to respond to this disaster. is there any clear sense at this stage as to who exactly might lead the response. who would be in charge of trying to deliver aid? >> look. libya is unique. the conflict is unique in a very particular way.

the central bank of libya and tripoli is bankrolling both governments. the two warring factions -- factions are being bankrolled by libya and tripoli. that's how he's paying his soldiers. the question is, nobody wants to give any credit to the other or give them a chance to get credit. this might get in the way of helping people that are affected. and delay any help. so the split government is a fact. the internationally recognized government was denied entry into the east of libya a few weeks after it got a vote of confidence by 132 votes into

abstention's. refused to let the government into the east. now i guess under pressure, he may allow convoys of help from civilians, from nonprofit organizations and so on to go to durham. the problem now is, search and rescue operation. libya has no expertise in it. never exercises it. on a small scale, this is a huge problem now. we don't know who will help with that. >> i'm sorry to interrupt you. we just have a minute left. please be brief and mindful of the fact that we just have one minute left. >> if we want to try to get

money out of the central bank today, billions of billions of dollars accumulated from libya's massive oil wealth, we need a parliamentary rule to be able to give us some kind of emergency funds. the parliaments themselves have been agreeing to this agreement, failing to make laws that can respond to this kind of disaster. they need to be able to pass a law so we can have an emergency budget to deal with this. the money they take out of the budget could be given to international agencies and they should be trying to bankrolled this. libya should not be leading the efforts. libyans have showed himself to be incompetent enough in bringing this disaster to life. >> we have run out of time so we will have to leave the conversation. thank you so much to all of our guests. thank you for watching. you can see the program again any time by visiting our website.

you can join the conversation on. for the whole team here, goodbye for now. ♪

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