How Libya’s chaos left its people vulnerable to deadly flooding

By JACK JEFFERY

LONDON (AP) — A storm that has killed thousands of people and left thousands more missing in Libya is the latest blow to a country that has been gutted by years of chaos and division. The floods are the most fatal environmental disaster in the country’s modern history. Years of war and lack of a central government have left it with crumbling infrastructure that was vulnerable to the intense rains. The north African country has been divided between rival administrations and beset by militia conflict since autocratic ruler Moammar Gadhafi was toppled in 2011. Libyan authorities estimate that more than 2,000 people have died in the city of Derna alone, an urban area that has been neglected through years of war and unrest.