International Medical Corps - Flooding in Libya

Seyfarth's Charitable Foundation will match donations made to this charity through Friday, September 29.

On September 10, Storm Daniel made landfall in Libya, bringing strong winds and heavy rainfall to northeastern areas of the country. The next day, two dams upstream of the coastal city of Derna collapsed, releasing 30 million cubic meters of water that ripped through the city of 100,000 inhabitants.

This catastrophic event swept entire buildings, with thousands of people still inside them, into the Mediterranean Sea. According to local authorities, one-quarter of the city has disappeared. Thousands of people—some estimates run as high as 20,000—were killed by the flooding, while tens of thousands have been injured or displaced.

International Medical Corps immediately sent a response team to the region to conduct assessments and provide humanitarian aid. We are working with the government and local health facilities to coordinate efforts, are rushing medical supplies and equipment to help families affected by the floods, and are ready to deploy our EMT Type 1 facility to the region if requested.