News > For a divided Libya, disastrous floods have become a rallying cry for unity

For a divided Libya, disastrous floods have become a rallying cry for unity

Zahra el-Gerbi wasn’t expecting much of a response to her online fundraiser, but she felt she had to do something after four of her relatives died in the flooding that decimated the eastern Libyan city of Derna. In the first half-hour after she shared it on Facebook, friends and strangers were already promising financial and material support. The collective grief over the more than 11,000 dead has morphed into a rallying cry for national unity in the country blighted by 12 years of conflict and division.