Thousands of people were dead and at least 10,000 were missing in Libya as a result of floods triggered by a massive Mediterranean storm that broke dams, washed away houses, and destroyed up to a fifth of the eastern coastal city of Derna.
A top physician in Derna informed reporters that more than 2,000 people had died, while eastern Libya officials reported by local television put the death toll at more over 5,000.
Storm Daniel slammed on a country that was torn and collapsing after more than a decade of strife.
Derna, a community of around 125,000 people, was left with damaged neighborhoods, houses swept out, and automobiles turned on their roofs amid streets covered in muck and rubble left by a huge stream caused by dam failure.
The storm also devastated other eastern cities, including Libya’s second-largest city, Benghazi. Tamer Ramadan, the chairman of an International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies mission, predicted a “huge” death toll.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, emergency response teams have been mobilized to assist on the ground.
As Turkey and other nations delivered supplies to Libya, including search and rescue trucks, rescue boats, generators, and food, heartbroken Derna residents returned home in search of family members.