According to a geology and water policy expert, the collapse of dams in Derna greatly exacerbated the crisis, especially since these dams were retaining quantities of water, in addition to the large amounts of rain that fell due to the hurricane, explaining the reasons that led to the inability of Derna’s dams to withstand. .
The Libyan army spokesman, Ahmed Al-Mismari, announced during a press conference that the disaster worsened after the collapse of the Derna dams, sweeping entire neighborhoods into the sea.
Causes of collapse
Geology and water policy expert, Ramadan Hamza, said in exclusive statements to Sky News Arabia that what happened in Derna is tragic, because the amounts of water and rain falling in one day were more than one season, and they are unexpected amounts, and therefore the dams collapsed.
The other reason is that dams in conflict or war zones may be neglected in their maintenance periodically, and the dams in Derna may have been subject to this neglect since 2011 until the present.
Political instability, changing governments, and corruption deals, all of these things lead to the neglect of important facilities such as dams, which exposes them to collapse.
The dams originally held large quantities of water, and with this rainfall, the quantities of water doubled, which the dams could not bear.
Problems of dams in general, in cases of collapse, lack of control over the opening of gates, cases of floods, and cases of earthquakes, must be taken into account. When designing the dam, the possibilities of the period of time during which the dam must be able to perform the tasks for which it was created must be taken into account, and this period of time must be taken into account. Ranging from 50 years to 150 years.
In some cases, current dam construction data is for a very short period of time, and studies are not taken in detail for reasons represented in the speed of completion of the dam or its construction for a specific purpose without considering its danger in the event of a collapse.
Dams store huge amounts of water, and in cases of earthquakes, floods, or cases of sabotage, such as what happened between Ukraine and Russia, they represent a great danger. They are very important facilities, but they also represent danger, so this must be taken into account.
When floods occur, the gates must be opened and the necessary precautions taken so that the retained water does not represent a burden on the dam body, leading to its collapse.
Important actions
Geology and Water Policy News warns that due to these reasons, there are important procedures that must be taken into consideration when building dams, namely the hydrological factor, which is concerned with the impact of climate changes in the place where the dam is built, whether it is a river, valley, or watercourse that may be affected by climate changes. .
It must also be taken into account that the largest flood in 100 years would occur, for example, and a dam might be built and its lifespan would end and such a flood would not occur.
The seismic factor must also be taken into account when constructing dams according to geological studies, in addition to fortifying the dams so that they do not collapse if targeted, whether incorrectly or intentionally.
Dams are very important and represent great benefits in cases of water scarcity or drought, but at the same time they represent a great danger if the factors we mentioned are neglected during construction.
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