Casualties in Libya floods could have been avoided with warning system: WMO chief

The head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday that casualties could have been avoided in the floods that hit Libya if the divided country had a functional weather service able to issue warnings. Speaking to reporters in Geneva, WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said Libya's main challenge in managing the aftermath of floods that have killed thousands was that the governing was "not functioning normally". "If they would have been a normally operating meteorological service, they could have issued a warnings," he said.