By Houda Mzioudet.
Tripoli, 12 December 2013
People in the south west of the country have been clearing up after torrential rain struck . . .[restrict]the region this week destroying homes and causing power and communications cuts.
Drizzle continued to fall in Qatrun last night but there was nothing like Monday’s massive downpours. Murzuk also witnessed torrential rain, leading to power outages, road closures and cuts in the Al Madar mobile phone network. The latter were still continuing last night of Wednesday, Abu Bakr Maeen, a Qatrun-based journalist told the Libya Herald.
Locals from Qatrun, who had fled their homes of mud and palm trees saw them collapsed because of the rain and had to take shelter in a Chinese company compound in the area, Maeen said.
The storms also struck the region of Umm Al-Aranib, south of Sebha, led to the collapse of a number of mud houses there and the evacuation of people from the area. However, according to Maeen, there was a shortage of tents and blankets.
Locals, he said, had appealed to the authorities for help for the victims, asking for blankets and necessities.
Rainfall is rare in Qatrun area, but when it does come it comes in summer.
The meteorological office had issued warnings of this week’s storms in the south. [/restrict]
