SW News: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) made an urgent appeal to donors on Thursday for $71.4 million to meet the needs of the roughly 250,000 Libyans affected by the floods over the following three months, warning that the death toll could climb in the absence of extra assistance. OCHA estimates that over 880,000 people spread over five provinces reside in areas that were immediately impacted by the storm and flash floods.

Martin Griffiths, the head of OCHA and UN humanitarian chief, said the UN is deploying a strong team to support and resource the international response in coordination with first responders and Libya's authorities. "We're working nonstop to provide as many individuals with assistance and support as we can,” Griffiths said.

Thousands in Derna are now without food or shelter and it is a race against time for emergency teams searching through piles of debris for survivors. Griffiths said the scale of the flood disaster is shocking, with entire neighborhoods having been wiped off the map and whole families, taken by surprise, swept away in the deluge of water.

Professor Petteri Taalas, president of the World Meteorological Organization, said the tragedy in Libya underlines the destructive and cascading effects of extreme weather on fragile States.

He said it shows the need for multi-hazard early warning systems that include all spheres of society and government, in line with the UN's initiative to implement them globally by 2027.

Libya is particularly vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters due to the lack of a cohesive government. Since 2014, the nation has been divided between an internationally recognized interim government based in Tripoli, the capital, and another in the east, with other armed factions also operating there.

Cindy McCain, WFP executive director, said these devastating floods struck a country where a profound political crisis has already left so many desperate.