Libya: storm and flooding 2023 - rapid damage and needs assessment

Reconstruction and recovery needs following the catastrophic flooding in eastern Libya last September are estimated at $1.8 billion, according to this new report by the World Bank, the United Nations, and the European Union. The disaster impacted approximately 1.5 million people – 22 per cent of Libya’s population – living in the coastal and inland cities that were hardest hit The Libya Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA) analyses damages and losses – as well as recovery and reconstruction needs – using a globally established methodology across almost all sectors of the Libyan economy. It finds the greatest impact has been on housing, the environment, Libya’s cultural heritage, as well as the transportation and water sectors. Housing was severely hit, with an estimated more than 18,500 houses destroyed or damaged, equivalent to seven per cent of the country’s housing stock, damaged or destroyed. The report estimates 70 per cent of the needed reconstruction costs would be for infrastructure, with housing the largest component.