Tripoli had a rough day on Tuesday, October 13. Heavy rain swept over the Libyan capital and its suburbs, turning streets into torrents and swamping dozens of vehicles. Homes were flooded too, and the city’s central hospital was among the buildings affected.
So far, one person has died. Jumhouria Bank announced that one of its employees was electrocuted as he entered its headquarters.
As the water rose, authorities sent public services out to drain the streets and closed the ring road. Power was deliberately cut in several neighbourhoods to reduce the risk of accidents. Every summer, local officials try to prepare the roads before the rainy season, but that work was not enough this time.
The flooding comes less than three weeks after an earlier blow to western Libya. In late September, torrential rain hit several towns in the region, cutting electricity and running water and trapping some residents in mudflows. In Mizdah, a small semi-desert town where heavy rain is rare, many power poles came down. The mayor of Nasmah declared his municipality a disaster zone. Those storms killed three people across Libya and southeastern Tunisia.
These repeated floods are a reminder of how vulnerable the country remains, with infrastructure still in poor shape. Libyans have not forgotten Storm Daniel, which devastated Derna in September 2023 and killed thousands of people.