Dam Failures Create Devastating Floods in the Port City of Derna, Libya

Mosque and Shrine of Sahaba in Derna, 2009. Image © Syed Wali Peeran via Wikipdia under license CC BY-SA 4.0Within the span of a week, two natural disasters hit North African nations. On Monday, 11 September, just days after a major earthquake hit Morocco's High Atlas Mountains, Storm Daniel made landfall in Northwest Libya, leading to the collapse of two dams, which released torrents of mud and water into the country’s coastline, killing thousands and destroying large parts of the po