2,000 people are believed to be dead amid flooding in eastern Libya

One of Libya’s leaders claimed Monday that up to 2,000 people dead amid flooding in the country after the Mediterranean storm Daniel wreaked havoc on homes and entire neighborhoods in numerous coastal towns in North Africa.

38 deaths from the weekend flooding were officially confirmed, according to health officials. (Photo: Inquirer.net)

Health officials: 38 deaths from the weekend flooding were officially confirmed

The worst-hit city, Derna, was left off the list since it was now impassable.

USA Today reported that major destruction was visible in video released online by Derna residents. Along Wadi Derna, a watercourse that flows through the heart of the city after descending from the mountains, entire residential blocks have been obliterated. Apartment complexes with multiple stories that were originally set back from the river were now half submerged in mud.

Prime Minister Ossama Hamad of the east Libyan government said thousands of people were missing and 2,000 people were dead amid flooding in Derna in a phone interview with al-Masar television station on Monday. Derna, he claimed, had been designated a disaster area.

The town’s primary medical facility stated that at least 23 persons had been reported dead amid flooding in the eastern town of Bayda. The Ambulance and Emergency Authority stated that seven more persons have died in the coastal town of Susa in northern Libya. The minister claimed that seven additional deaths had been recorded in the cities of Shahatt and Omar al-Mokhtar.

According to the Libyan Red Crescent, one of its employees went missing while trying to rescue a stranded family in Bayda. Many more were said to be missing.

The area of Derna, which was the hardest hit, has become inaccessible, and local media stated that there is a grave scenario there due to a lack of connectivity and energy. Social media videos show residential buildings and other properties being destroyed by floodwaters.

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Many of the victims were carried off toward the Mediterranean

In a report from Inquirer.net, more than 5,000 individuals are anticipated to be missing in Derna, according to Essam Abu Zeriba, the interior minister for the east Libyan government. Many of the victims, according to him, were carried off toward the Mediterranean.

He urged regional and international organizations to move quickly to aid the city in a phone interview that aired on the Saudi-owned satellite news channel Al-Arabiya.

The city of Derna, which is situated in the delta of the little Wadi Derna on Libya’s east coast, was severely damaged by flooding and heavy rain, prompting Ossama Hamad, the prime minister of the east Libyan government, to proclaim the area a disaster zone.

Due to the storm, which made landfall overnight, the government issued a state of emergency on Saturday and cancelled classes.

On Monday, the prime minister declared three days of national mourning and ordered that all flags be flown at half-staff.

Cmdr. Khalifa Hifter, who was in charge of eastern and western Libya, sent troops to aid the citizens of Benghazi and other eastern towns. Hifter’s forces lost communication with five service personnel who were assisting families in Bayda and those dead amid flooding, according to Ahmed al-Mosmari, a spokesman for the forces.

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