More than 2,000 people lost their lives and 1,200 are missing as a result of Cyclone Daniel, which has hit the northeastern part of Libya since yesterday, reported the head of the parallel government in the east, Osama Hammad.
The official described the situation in the city of Derna - the city most affected by the torrential rains - as "catastrophic."
"Thousands are missing, entire neighborhoods have disappeared along with their residents carried away by a sea," Hammad warned.
Precipitation exceeded 400 milliliters per hour, a figure that had not been recorded in the last four decades according to the National Meteorological Center.
Derna municipal council member Ahmed Amdur called for "urgent" international intervention to "save the city."
The sinking of residential areas and the collapse of public and private buildings and infrastructure has resulted in the closure of land routes, which is why Amdur called for opening a maritime corridor to assist the inhabitants.
The prime minister of the Government of National Unity (GUN), Abdulhamid Debiba, based in Tripoli, promised that the State will compensate all those affected by the floods and declared three days of mourning for the victims.
At the same time, he announced the sending to Derna of fifty ambulances and a team of 75 doctors and nurses, as well as a convoy to reinforce rural hospitals.
The head of the Tripoli General Services Company, Mohamed Ismail, said 53 trucks and 10 heavy machines had been sent to support rescue efforts.
The United Nations Mission in Libya (Unsmil) stated in a statement that it is closely monitoring the emergency situation and "its availability to provide support to those affected."
After hitting Greece and Turkey in recent days, Cyclone Daniel was downgraded to a subtropical storm on September 9 and is expected to weaken in the Maghreb country starting this Monday as it heads towards neighboring Egypt, according to a report from the Center Arab Regional Meteorological.
