Functioning weather service may have prevented Libya flood casualties: WMO

People look for survivors in the hard-hit city of Derna, in eastern Libya [Yousef Murad/AP]

Many of the casualties from the devastating floods in Libya this week could have been avoided if the divided country had a functional weather service able to issue warnings, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Speaking to reporters in Geneva on Thursday, WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said Libya’s main challenge in managing the aftermath of the floods that have killed thousands and displaced tens of thousands was that the governing was “not functioning normally”.