Morocco and Libya

The medicane between Malta and Libya

We are all praying for the people of these two neighboring countries to Malta, both of which were hit with catastrophic tragedies this past week. First it was Morocco being hit by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake devastating  a large part of the Atlas Mountains, several miles away from the historic city of Marrakesh. The photos we’ve seen so far paint a sad picture of destruction everywhere you look, with over 2,500 victims so far. At the same time, a hurricane was forming around Greece, and since it is in the Mediterranean Sea, it is called a medicane, named Daniel. The forecast was telling us that it was heading towards Malta, and I followed its progress from Monday until this past Sunday. This medicane surprisingly stood still for 6 full days. It kept churning up waves and rain in the sea between Malta and Libya without moving. I thought my Ventusky app was not working because the storm did not move at all for 6 days. The festivities of the Nativity of Mary for September 8th held here in Malta in 4 parishes were cancelled or postponed and I waited to see when this medicane is going to move, one way or another. It graced our island and only a few drops of rain fell over the entire week. The first photo shows how near it came to hit Malta. 

The medicane as it approached Libya on Sunday

The second photo was taken on Saturday as it swerved towards Libya, hitting Benghazi and Derna with horrific force on Sunday night, dumping the total amount of rain they usually get in one full year. Maybe our prayers to the Blessed Mother protected us from being the target of Daniel, but unfortunately it hit the northern Libyan coast with a vengeance, with a projected 10,000 victims being reported, between drowning, suffocating while sleeping and being swept into the sea. We pray for all the victims in both Morocco and Libya, as well as the survivors and those helping courageously in the recovery process.