African nations have witnessed devastating floods, some of which are a result of dams collapsing. 2023 and 2024 was perhaps the worst period for such calamities with Libya recording over 4,000 deaths following Derna dam’s collapse. What transpired before and after the incident still raises questions.
Libya’s Derna dam collapse also saw the displacement of over 40,000 people, with some yet to recover since the occurrence between 10-11 September. The damages included dead livestock, destroyed crops plus infrastructure and leading to unfateful humanitarian disasters.
Reports state that the damage would have been controlled, with the dam showing signs of collapse days earlier, where the respective management underestimated and ignored the signs. It was concluded that the dam’s engineer could discharge a substantial amount once a high volume of water was entering the reservoir. Everything worsened following the heavy storm-Daniel rainfall, which triggered the inevitable Derna dam destruction.
The same ignorance was observed from Nigeria’s Alau dam flooding, which also saw severe displacement in Borno State. After the Maiduguri dam flooding, the African Blue Community of the Ecumenical Water Network Africa (EWNA) blamed neglect and fund mismanagement that resulted in the dam flooding accident. True to that, there was an allocation of ₦309 million between 2018 and 2024 for rehabilitating the Alau dam.
Therefore, Derna and Alau dam flooding are a result of mismanagement, neglect, and embezzlement, all resulting in deaths and destruction of an economy. It’s high time responsible people and entities are held accountable to avoid more deaths from avoidable flooding accidents.
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