The United States Goverment through the State Department have expressed sympathies and condolences to those affected by the recent devastating flooding in Libya.
According to the statement released by the State Department Spokesman, Mathew Miller on Monday revealed that United States is coordinating with United Nations partners and Libyan authorities on how they can assist the ongoing relief efforts.
The statement reads: “The United States expresses its sympathies and condolences to those affected by the devastating flooding in Libya. The United States is coordinating with UN partners and Libyan authorities on how we can assist the ongoing relief efforts”.
In a report, the Authorities in eastern Libya said at least 2,000 people were killed and thousands more were missing after a massive flood ripped through the city of Derna following a heavy storm and rain.
Ahmed Mismari, the spokesperson for the Libyan National Army (LNA) that controls eastern Libya, said in a televised news conference that the disaster came after dams above Derna had collapsed, “sweeping whole neighbourhoods with their residents into the sea”.
It was reported that one of the worst-hit regions was the port city of Derna in eastern Libya, which was declared a disaster zone after two dams there collapsed and large parts of it were submerged, cutting off communications and electricity.
Report also has it that experts have described storm Daniel — which killed at least 27 people when it struck parts of Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria in recent days — as “extreme in terms of the amount of water falling in a space of 24 hours”.
A Derna city council official described the situation in the city as “catastrophic” and in need of “national and international intervention”, speaking to the local TV channel Libya al-Ahrar.
He reported the collapse of four main bridges, two buildings and two dams in Derna, a city of 100,000 people that lies in a river wadi 900 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli.