STORY: The images showed the city's neighborhoods, highways, dams and port facilities in ruins. A torrent unleashed by a powerful storm burst dams on Sunday night and hurtled down a seasonal riverbed that bisects the eastern city of Derna, washing multi-story buildings into the sea with sleeping families inside. Confirmed death tolls given by officials have varied. All are in the thousands, with thousands more on lists of the missing. Derna Mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi said deaths in the city could already reach 18,000-20,000, based on the extent of the damage.

For days, Libyans looked across the Mediterranean to Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria, where a powerful storm had already killed more than a dozen people. But when it reached the North African nation of Libya, disaster grew exponentially. Torrential rains swelled the waters behind two dams until they burst, inundating entire communities. More than 5,000 people are feared dead, and in the coastal city of Derna, entire neighborhoods were carried out to sea, the local authorities said. ThursdaySoldiers in the flood-stricken city of Derna.

The wall of water several stories high smashed into apartment buildings, drowning entire families in minutes. While many towns in eastern Libya saw deadly flooding, Derna, renowned for its white villas and palm trees, was the worst-hit. Fadelallah said all 13 deceased members of his family lived in a neighborhood near the river valley. “They were screaming, help, help,” he said over the phone from a field hospital in Derna. “The city itself has gone.”Mahmoud al-Baseer’s cousins lived less than kilometer (about half a mile) from one of the dams.

Daniel, an unusually strong Mediterranean storm, caused deadly flooding in towns across eastern Libya, but the worst-hit was Derna. The dams that collapsed outside Derna were built in the 1970s and have not been maintained for years, local media reported. Derna has begun burying its dead, mostly in mass graves, said eastern Libya’s health minister, Othman Abduljaleel. He said most of the dead were buried in mass graves outside Derna, while others were transferred to nearby towns and cities. The dead in eastern Libya included at least 84 Egyptians, who were transferred to their home country on Wednesday.

International aid is slowly starting to reach the port city after Storm Daniel hit the northern coast of Libya on Saturday night. Hichem Abu Chkiouat, the minister of civil aviation in the area, said the “sea is constantly dumping dozens of bodies”. An aid worker from Benghazi told the Associated Press: “Bodies are everywhere, inside houses, in the streets, at sea. Mitt Romney condemns ‘demagogue’ Trump as he announces retirementMitt Romney at the Capitol in February last year. Sign upSign up for the US morning briefingFirst Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday.

The country is split between an internationally recognized government in the western half based in Tripoli, the capital, and a separately administered region in the east. Desperately needed aid was trickling into the eastern half of the country by Wednesday. But with roads and bridges damaged or cut off, access to the hardest-hit city, Derna, on the Mediterranean coast, remained a major hurdle to bringing in help, according to international aid groups. Beyond the dead and the missing, more than 34,000 people have been displaced, aid groups said. The waters have dispersed the corpses over tens of kilometers.”Islam Azouz, an aid worker from Derna, said he lost dozens of relatives.

More than 6000 people have lost their lives due to heavy flooding that caused massive devastation across Libya, reported CNN on Wednesday. According to workers, mortuaries are overflowing in hospitals that are still closed despite the pressing need to treat disaster survivors. As per Egypt's emigration ministry, the government buried 87 Egyptian victims who died in Libya. The flooding in Derna has displaced over 30,000 people, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Libya. Storm Daniel's devastation has made it considerably more difficult for rescuers to remove roads and debris in order to find survivors.

The majority of the thousands of deaths in catastrophic floods in Libya could have been avoided, the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization said Thursday. The country has been mired in a military conflict since the 2011 uprising that toppled long-ruling dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Local officials and aid groups have warned that the current death toll could quadruple given the flood's force. Drowned bodies are washing up on the roads, and every time the tide comes in it is washing bodies back up." The floods in Libya came just days after more than 2800 people dided following a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Morocco.

Health officials have confirmed 5,100 deaths and say 9,000 people are still missing.Here's a look at the latest developments.Daniel, an unusually strong Mediterranean storm, caused deadly flooding in towns across eastern Libya, but the worst-hit was Derna. As the storm pounded the coast Sunday night, residents said they heard loud explosions when the dams outside the city collapsed. Floodwaters washed down Wadi Derna , a valley that cuts through the city, crashing through buildings and washing people out to sea.The startling devastation reflected the storm's intensity, but also Libya's vulnerability. The country is divided by rival governments - one in the east, the other in the west - and one result has been widespread neglect of infrastructure. More than 70 came from one village in the southern province of Beni Suef.

WHOLibyaSearch-and-rescue operations in the wake of Storm Daniel in Libya continue, led by national agencies, military, the Libyan Red Crescent and local volunteers. The Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Libya, Georgette Gagnon, has tasked an emergency response team to support local authorities and partners. A 12-person UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team has been deployed to support the response and relief operations. SudanIn a statement today, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, called on all parties to the conflict to spare civilians as attacks continue across the country. The Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said the pattern is especially alarming due to its catastrophic implications for the people of Ukraine and for 345 million people facing hunger worldwide.

| Un Humanitarians Partnering In Libya To Help In Wake Of Deadly StormUN humanitarians partnering in Libya to help in wake of deadly stormUN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Libya, Georgette Gagnon, has designated an emergency team to support local authorities and partners following storm DanielBy IANS Published Date - 08:50 AM, Thu - 14 September 23United Nations: The UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Libya, Georgette Gagnon, has designated an emergency team to support local authorities and partners following storm Daniel, UN humanitarians said. “These heart-wrenching disasters have claimed thousands of lives and affected countless families and communities,” he said. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, especially in Derna, where accessibility remains a critical challenge due to damaged infrastructure. The report said critical infrastructure, including healthcare, electricity, buildings, roads and telecommunications, were significantly damaged. “Many international partners indicated their interest to provide emergency response assistance,” OCHA added.

The massive flooding in Eastern Libya has claimed more than 8,000 lives and the UN says an additional 10,000 people are still missing. NBC News’ Molly Hunter has more details on the search and rescue missions underway.Sept.

Floodwater swept the living away, and on Wednesday it was washing bodies back onto the shores of eastern Libya faster than the devastated city of Derna could bury them. A total of 5,300 people had been confirmed dead in the floods so far, the Ministry of the Interior of Libya’s eastern government said. One father watched in disbelief as rescue workers pulled the limp body of his son from under rubble in Derna. It's a scene that is being repeated across this city and in towns across eastern Libya. “Bodies are lying everywhere — in the sea, in the valleys, under the buildings,” Hichem Abu Chkiouat, civil aviation minister in Libya’s eastern government, told Reuters.

During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages. Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.

Confirmed death tolls given by officials so far have varied, but all are in the thousands, with thousands more on lists of the missing. Derna Mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi said deaths in the city could reach 18,000-20,000, based on the extent of the damage. I went to all hospitals and schools but no luck," he told Reuters, weeping with his head in his hands. Husadi, who had been working the night of the storm, dialled his wife's phone number once again. "We lost at least 50 members from my father’s family, between missing and dead," he said.