Clean-up work is currently underway in Sicily, Malta and Tunisia Cyclone Harry at full speed. Last Monday, the heaviest rainfall in over 70 years and the suddenly rising seas severely damaged ports and hundreds of buildings on both sides of the Mediterranean.
The Tunisian civil defense rescued five dead people from flooded houses and cars that had been swept away by the flash floods. Many residents of the coastal towns of Hammamet and Nabeul were completely surprised by the force of the storm, despite warnings from the Italian and Tunisian weather services.
But while the Tunisian media reports on the ongoing search by the Tunisian coast guard for three missing fishermen, the number of victims of the cyclone is likely to be significantly higher than previously known.
activists Migrants and refugees living near the port city of Sfax are looking for 380 people who set out on several boats for the crossing to Lampedusa shortly before the storm began. Rescue ships were able to rescue a survivor from the Mediterranean off Malta on Friday, but there is no trace of the other 50 passengers on his boat or the other groups. It is unlikely that the metal boats, which were often welded together in just a few hours, could withstand the seven-meter-high waves of last week.
Desolate situation in refugee camps
The situation is currently particularly serious for the migrants who live in the self-organized camps in the olive groves north of the industrial and commercial city of Sfax. Many of the makeshift tents made of wood and plastic sheets are under water due to the rains of the last few weeks. The Tunisian National Guard regularly moves into the tent cities and destroys them. Relatives and friends of those who set out on their own on Monday and Tuesday are desperately waiting for signs of life from the missing people.
“The danger of the forecast storm was at least clear to those who decided to set off,” says Abubaker from Sierra Leone. His cousin also got into one of the boats at 2 a.m. on Monday – just hours before entire sections of the beach were swallowed by crests of waves.
“My cousin’s desperation about the current living conditions in the camp was greater than his fear,” Abubaker told taz on the phone. “Aid organizations are forbidden from helping sick and pregnant women, there is hardly anything left to eat and there are many deportations to the desert.”
The 36-year-old reports that the organizers of the crossings convinced the passengers with the argument that the Tunisian coast guard had withdrawn to the ports because of the threatening cyclone and that the chances of crossing the Mediterranean were therefore particularly good.