Following a severe storm and heavy rain, a major flood smashed through the city of Derna, killing over 2,000 people and leaving thousands more missing, according to authorities in eastern Libya.

In a phone interview with Almasar television station Monday, Prime Minister Osama Hamad of the east Libyan government said that 2,000 were feared dead in Derna, and thousands were believed missing. He said Derna has been declared a disaster zone.

In a televised news conference, Ahmed Mismari, a spokesman for the Libyan National Army (LNA), which governs eastern Libya, stated that the catastrophe occurred when dams above Derna had failed, "sweeping whole neighbourhoods with their residents into the sea." Mismari put the number of missing at 5,000-6,000.

At least 46 people were reported dead in the eastern town of Bayda, Abdel-Rahim Mazek, head of the town’s main medical centre said. Another seven people were reported dead in the coastal town of Susa in northeastern Libya, according to the Ambulance and Emergency Authority. Seven others were reported dead in the towns of Shahatt and Omar al-Mokhtar, said Ossama Abduljaleel, health minister. One person was reported dead Sunday in the town of al-Marj.

The region's Red Crescent leader had earlier on Monday stated that Derna had already claimed 150 lives and that there were still anticipated to be 250 fatalities.

Georgette Gagnon, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Libya, said early reports showed that dozens of villages and towns were “severely affected … with widespread flooding, damage to infrastructure, and loss of life”.

In Derna, local media said the situation was catastrophic with no electricity or communications.

Since a 2011 NATO-backed revolt that sparked years of conflict, Libya is politically divided between the East and West, and public services have collapsed. The internationally recognized government in Tripoli does not control eastern areas.

Following last week's brutal assault on Greece, Storm Daniel stormed in over the Mediterranean on Sunday, flooding roads and demolishing buildings in Derna as well as other coastal communities, including Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city.

Photographs of Derna, which could not be immediately verified, showed a wide torrent running through the city centre where a far narrower waterway had previously flowed. Ruined buildings stood on either side. 

Eastern Libya's Almostkbal TV broadcast footage that showed people stranded on the roofs of their vehicles calling for help and waters washing away cars.

"The missing are in the thousands, and the dead exceed 2,000," Osama Hamad told al-Masar TV. "Entire neighbourhoods in Derna have disappeared, along with their residents ... swept away by water."

According to Mismari, seven members of the LNA had died in the flood. Witnesses said the water level had reached three meters (10 feet).

West of Derna, visuals showed a collapsed road between the port town of Sousse and Shahat, home to the Greek-founded and UNESCO-listed archaeological site Cyrene.

Three days of mourning have been declared by Libya's eastern-based parliament. The interim administration of Tripoli's prime minister, Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, also proclaimed three days of mourning in each of the impacted cities, referring to them as "disaster areas."

According to the information given by two oil engineers, four major oil ports in Libya - Ras Lanuf, Zueitina, Brega, and Es Sidra - were closed from Saturday evening for three days.

Search and rescue efforts were still going on, according to witnesses. Authorities imposed a curfew, closed businesses like stores and schools, and proclaimed a state of extreme emergency.

In Tripoli, the interim government directed all state agencies to "immediately deal" with the damage and floods in eastern cities, but the administration has no sway in the east.

However, Dbeibah's government works closely with the Central Bank of Libya, which disburses funds to government departments across the country.

According to a statement from the UN office in Libya, the organization was carefully monitoring the storm and would "provide urgent relief assistance in support of response efforts at local and national levels."

Image source: Reuters