The Libyan government has declared the city of Derna a disaster zone, with at least 2,000 people killed and thousands more missing after flash floods caused by Mediterranean Storm Daniel.
Ahmed Mismari, the spokesman for the Libyan National Army, which controls eastern Libya, said in a televised news conference that the disaster came after dams above Derna had collapsed, “sweeping whole neighbourhoods with their residents into the sea”.
Mr Mismari put the number of missing at 5,000 to 6,000.
The storm intensified overnight as it made landfall on the Libyan coast at the weekend, leaving a trail of flooding and destruction, as Egypt braces for it to hit western parts of the country.
“At least 150 people were killed as a result of flooding and torrential rains left by Storm Daniel in Derna, the Jabal Al Akhdar region and the suburbs of Al Marj,” Mohamed Massoud, a spokesman for the administration, told AFP.
The sentiment was echoed by the Red Crescent in Benghazi, whose director, Kais Fhakeri, told Reuters on Monday that the death toll could rise to 250.
Prime Minister Osama Hamad, of Libya's eastern-based government, told Al Masar TV station on Monday night that more than 2,000 people had been killed, with thousands of others missing amid the destruction.
The reason for the wide discrepancy in casualty estimates was not immediately clear, but images on social media showed that a large section of the city appeared to have been washed away in a muddy deluge.
The Libyan Red Crescent said it had lost contact with one of its workers as he tried to help a family stuck in Al Bayda.
A spokesman from the Libyan Presidential Council announced a three-day mourning period on Monday afternoon.
The UAE and Qatar have offered their condolences.
In a statement on Monday, the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its sincere condolences and sympathy “to the state of Libya and its people, and to the families of the victims of this tragedy, as well as its wishes for a speedy recovery for all the injured”.
Sheikh Tamim, the Emir of Qatar, ordered his government to send aid to Libyan areas hit by the storm, the Qatari News Agency reported on Monday.
Tunisian President Kais Saied also ordered financial and volunteer assistance be sent to Libya.
Footage on social media showed people stranded on the roofs of their vehicles in heavy floods as Storm Daniel hit Benghazi, Sousse, Al Bayda, Al Marj and Derna.
“We were asleep and when we woke up we found water besieging the house. We are inside and trying to get out,” Derna resident Ahmed Mohamed told Reuters by phone on Monday.
At least one man was confirmed dead due to the storm after he became trapped inside his car amid the heavy flooding. Homes were also destroyed in several areas of eastern Libya.
Walid Al Arfi, the government’s emergency response team spokesman, identified the man as Othman Abu Khuwaydim Al Darsi and said he died on Sunday in the Batta area, east of the city of Al Marj.
The head of the interim government in Tripoli, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, said on Sunday he had directed all state agencies to “immediately deal” with the damage and floods in eastern cities.
The storm arrived in Egypt's western coastal province of Matrouh on Monday afternoon, causing moderate rain in some parts and very poor visibility after thick fog “blocked the sea from view”, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority said.
Thick fog also descended on the Mediterranean Sea in the coastal city of Alexandria, almost 300km from Matruh and a little more than 600km from Egypt's border with Libya, a resident of the city told The National.
Light rains also started falling periodically in Alexandria, the resident said.
The UN in Libya said it was following the storm closely and would “provide urgent relief assistance in support of response efforts at local and national levels”.
As a precaution, Libyan authorities shut down four major oil ports, including Ras Lanuf, Zueitina, Brega and Es Sidra, for three days on Saturday evening.
Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corporation declared a state of maximum alert before the storm.
“You are asked to monitor the ports and shipping movement and take measures to maintain the highest levels of safety … and take measures to protect industrial units, production lines and storage units,” the NOC said in a message to its affiliated companies.
Libyans began sharing videos on social media, asking for help from the authorities and saying they were facing challenges after rainwater flooded their homes and neighbourhoods.
On Saturday, authorities in eastern Libya declared a state of emergency, which included suspending classes in all public and private educational institutions, closing shops and enforcing curfews.
Last week, Storm Daniel pummelled Greece for three days at the end of the hottest summer on record, leaving a new trail of ruin after deadly wildfires.
Greek rescue teams recovered the bodies of four more people in central areas of the country on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 15 in the country's most intense rainstorm since records began in 1930.
The Egyptian Meteorological Authority had warned citizens on Sunday that Storm Daniel would reach the country by Monday, accompanied by rains and unstable weather in western parts of the country.
The authority confirmed that areas as far south as Cairo would also be affected by the storm by Tuesday or Wednesday, albeit to a much a lesser degree than the country's western and coastal parts.
“These conditions will affect parts of western Egypt, including Salloum, Marsa Matruh and Siwa. Light to moderate rain is expected to spread to parts of Alexandria in the evening,” the agency said.
“Light to moderate rain will gradually move inland to affect parts of the southern Delta, the canal cities and possibly Cairo.”
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Dirham Stretcher tips for having a baby in the UAE
Selma Abdelhamid, the group's moderator, offers her guide to guide the cost of having a young family:
• Buy second hand stuff
They grow so fast. Don't get a second hand car seat though, unless you 100 per cent know it's not expired and hasn't been in an accident.
• Get a health card and vaccinate your child for free at government health centres
Ms Ma says she discovered this after spending thousands on vaccinations at private clinics.
• Join mum and baby coffee mornings provided by clinics, babysitting companies or nurseries.
Before joining baby classes ask for a free trial session. This way you will know if it's for you or not. You'll be surprised how great some classes are and how bad others are.
• Once baby is ready for solids, cook at home
Take the food with you in reusable pouches or jars. You'll save a fortune and you'll know exactly what you're feeding your child.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Australia trail by 452 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the innings
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