A day before the storm hit Libya, the mayor said at a news conference that some areas around the dam should be evacuated. But an emergency committee formed by the eastern government's Interior Ministry ordered curfews instead.
A spokesperson for the mayor also said the city's dam had not been maintained since 2008 due to Libya's troubled politics.
Mohamed Manfi, president of Libya's Presidential Council, said Thursday on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, that the country's prosecutor would open an investigation into any possible negligence that contributed to the disaster.
While some seek to find who to blame for the catastrophe, a humanitarian disaster for survivors is also unfolding.
Fears are growing that waterborne diseases will affect the area, especially as decomposing bodies still wash ashore. "Access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities will be necessary to avoid a new crisis within a crisis," Elie Abouaoun, country director for Libya for the International Rescue Committee, said in a statement Wednesday.
About 30,000 people from Derna are displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration, a U.N. agency.
satellite images has shown the magnitude of the destruction caused by the floods. A government official estimated Wednesday that 25% of the city was completely destroyed or razed.
Rescue teams have arrived from neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, along with teams from Turkey, Italy and elsewhere.
But their efforts have been hampered by destroyed roads, as well as the disruption of power and communications in the city.
