On Wednesday, search teams combed streets, ruined houses, and even the sea for victims in a coastal Libyan city where the failure of two dams unleashed a catastrophic flash flood that killed at least 5,100 people.
Derna, a Mediterranean city, has struggled to receive assistance after a flash flood on Sunday night wiped out major access roads. Aid workers who made it into the city detailed the carnage, with thousands still missing and tens of thousands homeless.
“Bodies are everywhere, inside houses, in the streets, at sea. Wherever you go, you find dead men, women, and children,” Emad al-Falah, an aid worker from Benghazi, said over the phone from Derna. “Entire families were lost.”
Storm in the Mediterranean Daniel produced fatal floods in many towns in eastern Libya on Sunday, but Derna was the hardest hit. Two dams in the highlands above the city failed, causing floodwaters to rage down the Wadi Derna river and through the city center, destroying entire city blocks.
According to emergency officials, up to a fourth of the city has vanished. According to Yann Fridez, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Libya, waves reached 7 meters (23 feet).
Mohammed Derna, a teacher, said he and his family fled to the roof of their apartment building, astonished by the volume of water streaming by. According to him, it reached the second level of numerous structures.
“They were screaming, ‘Help, help,’” he said over the phone from a field hospital in Derna. “It was like a Hollywood horror movie.”