Libyan city of Derna declared disaster zone

Flooding caused by the storm Daniel. Pic/Libyan News Agency

Authorities in eastern Libya declared the city of Derna a disaster zone Monday after the Mediterranean storm Daniel caused devastating floods over the weekend in different parts of the North African nation.

At least seven people were reported dead Monday in an initial tally in the coastal town of Susa in northeastern Libya, according to the Ambulance and Emergency Authority, and one other person was confirmed dead Sunday. The man was stuck in his car and surrounded by floods in the eastern town of Marj, according to Walid al-Arfi, spokesperson for the government-run emergency response agency in eastern Libya.

The Libyan Red Crescent said it lost contact with one of its workers as he attempted to help a stuck family in the town of Bayda. Dozens of others were reported missing, and authorities fear they could have died in the floods that destroyed homes and other properties in several towns in eastern Libya, according to local media.

Ossama Hamad, the prime minister of the east Libya government, declared Derna a disaster zone after much of the city was destroyed.

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