According to a report by AON, a British-American professional services and consulting firm that provides data, analytics, and strategic consulting services, the losses incurred by Libya due to the floods that accompanied the storm “Daniel” in the east are around 4.3 billion dollars. The report also states that the confirmed losses worldwide due to natural disasters were the highest ever in the third quarter of 2023.
The heavy floods that Libya witnessed last September were the second deadliest natural disaster of 2023, causing financial losses worth 4.3 billion dollars. The storm destroyed thousands of buildings in Derna alone, resulting in more than four thousand deaths and over eight thousand missing people.
The unprecedented rainfall caused by storm “Daniel” led to massive flooding in Libya, but the catastrophic impact of the floods was compounded by the collapse of two dams in Wadi Derna, releasing approximately 24 million cubic meters of water. Both dams were built in the 1970s and suffered severe damage from a storm that hit the area in 1986. Despite allocating huge sums for their repair in 2012 and 2013, restoration work was not carried out.
According to data analysis, 2023 was the deadliest year for human losses caused by natural disasters since 2010, with 75,000 deaths recorded worldwide. The third quarter of that year saw a series of deadly natural disasters, including heavy floods in Libya due to storm “Daniel,” an earthquake that struck Morocco and killed three thousand people.
Global insurance losses due to natural disasters amounted to approximately $88 billion by the end of Q3 2023, an increase of 17% over the average annual loss for the twenty-first century. Although financial losses due to natural disasters fell on an annual basis to $295 billion from the annual average.