Libya fears a spiraling death toll from powerful storm floods

Libyan authorities say at least hundreds of people have died and thousands are feared missing in the eastern part of the country after a powerful storm devastated its mountainous terrain and coastline. The storm destroyed two dams and unleashed a torrent of murky water that rushed quickly and swept away buildings, homes and entire families.

Libyan National Army spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari he said monday night More than 2,000 people had died from flooding in the city of Derna alone after Storm Daniel made landfall on Sunday, and thousands of people were still missing. The Associated Press cited the health minister of eastern Libya like saying So far more than 1,000 bodies of victims have been collected.

Libyan authorities are having difficulty reaching many areas, making it difficult to confirm the exact number of dead or missing, and estimates vary widely.

Local emergency services, including troops, government workers, volunteers and residents, are digging through the rubble to recover the dead. Some have used inflatable boats to recover bodies from the water.

The regional capital, Benghazi, has become a center for assistance arriving from abroad.

Egypt, which borders Libya to the east, has sent military equipment and helicopters, and its military chief of staff visited the country to assess the situation and coordinate relief efforts. Egypt will also send three planes with medical and food supplies, 25 rescue equipment and equipment, and another plane for medical evacuations.

Tunisia, Algeria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates also pledged help for search and rescue efforts.

Entire families have died

"The citizens who left Derna and the affected areas left as if they were born today, with nothing. All their belongings have disappeared," al-Mismari said. "There are those who lost their families, those who lost part of their family."

Tens of thousands of people are homeless and displaced by the storm in different parts of eastern Libya, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council's national director for Libya, Dax Roque.

The eastern city of Derna appears to be the hardest hit by Storm Daniel, which gained strength as it crossed the Mediterranean before making landfall in Libya over the weekend. The city was flooded after two dams burst.

"Honestly, the situation was completely unexpected. It is the first time we experienced something like this," al-Mismari said, noting that the last major natural disaster to hit Libya was an earthquake 60 years ago.

Challenging search and rescue conditions

Roads that once connected eastern cities are completely inaccessible, either destroyed or underwater. Others are partially inaccessible, he said. This, combined with the mountainous terrain of areas such as Jebel Akhdar in the northeast, has made it difficult for search and rescue teams to reach affected areas, al-Mismari said.

With internet and phone connectivity in affected areas being spotty at best, the outside world is relying in part on social media videos from affected areas to show the extent of the devastation.

Some videos show bodies lying in the streets in front of a morgue in Derna. Other videos show rescuers trying to pull a man to safety as brown flood waters flow rapidly, covering roads and inundating farmland. Other videos show cars piled on top of each other in piles of twisted metal. Houses and bridges that were once markers of the city are now gone, turned into rubble.

Roque of the NRC in Libya says this latest disaster will exacerbate the situation for Libyans who have already endured years of conflict, poverty and displacement.

"Hospitals and shelters will be overwhelmed amid the great wave of displacement," he said. said in a statementurging greater international aid for Libya.

Divided government hampers response

The country's infrastructure was not equipped to deal with such a massive catastrophe after years of conflict and instability. Libya is governed by two rival governments, one in the east and the other in the capital, Tripoli.

In recent years, the oil-exporting country has also become a major transit route for illegal migration to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea, underscoring corruption and lawlessness in parts of the country following the overthrow of power and the assassination of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

The Libyan National Army says foreigners are among the dead and that several Libyan and civil defense soldiers involved in rescue operations have also died. It is not clear how many foreigners or soldiers have died in the floods.

Still, spokesman al-Mismari said the people of Libya have demonstrated that they are "one people" in this time of need, with official and unofficial aid coming from areas under rival government control, including Tripoli, Misrata and others. The Libyan National Army, of which al-Mismari is spokesman, controls the east.

The United States says it is willing to support Libya with humanitarian aid and is evaluating the best way to do so.

Aya Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Ruth Sherlock reported from Rome.