The devastating floods have hit a country where a deep political crisis has already left many people in dire straits. At least 250,000 people need urgent assistance, OCHA warned in a report on Thursday.

Catastrophic floods in Libya left thousands dead and thousands more missing. Disaster struck on Sunday when torrential rains from Storm Daniel burst two dams near the now-devastated port town of Derna, pushing entire neighborhoods into the sea.

For Michele Servadei, representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund in Libya, psychosocial support was urgently needed besides lifesaving supplies, “not only for the displaced but also for the ones that are in shelters”, or who remain stranded having lived through “that terrible night.”

The tragedy in Libya highlights the devastating and cascading consequences of extreme weather on fragile States, according to Professor Petteri Taalas, the head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

These devastating floods have hit a country where a deep political crisis has already left many people in a desperate situation.

Libya is particularly vulnerable to the consequences of natural disasters because it does not have a unified government. The country has been divided since 2014 between an internationally recognized interim government operating from the capital, Tripoli, and another in the east, with many armed groups also operating on its territory.