Survivors of the floods that caused fatalities in Libya described a sound resembling an explosion when one of the dams collapsed, causing water to rush in rapidly, reaching even the upper floors of buildings, forcing residents to flee from their roofs or cling to furniture for hours in rooms nearly submerged to the ceiling.
At the entrance of the city of Derna in eastern Libya, where a storm raised the water level of the river and two dams collapsed, flooding the city early Monday morning, a group of survivors stood searching for shelter after their homes were destroyed. Many were still wearing pajamas and sandals after having fled suddenly.
Raja Sassi, 39, survived the flood with his wife and child after the water reached an upper floor of their home, but the rest of his family perished. He said, "At first, we thought it was heavy rain, but in the middle of the night, we heard a huge explosion, and that was the dam bursting." He added that the city center was filled with scattered bodies.
His wife, Nouria Al-Hassadi, 31, who clung to their young daughter during their escape, said that their survival was a "miracle."
Safia Mustafa, 41, a mother of two boys, recounted how they managed to flee their home just before the building collapsed. They climbed to the roof and escaped via the roofs of adjacent buildings. Her son, Ubay, 10, said he was praying to God for their survival.
Salah Abu Bakr, a 46-year-old lawyer, said she survived the disaster with her two sisters, but their mother died. She explained that the water quickly inundated the building, reaching the third floor.
More than 2,000 deaths and over 10,000 reported missing have been announced in eastern Libya's cities following severe flooding and heavy rains caused by the violent storm Daniel. Libyan authorities indicated that the storm resulted in the collapse of two dams in Derna, sweeping entire neighborhoods and their residents away.
She mentioned that the water surged into their apartment until it was nearly at the ceiling, and for what she said felt like three hours, she clung to a piece of furniture to stay afloat. "I can swim, but when I tried to save my family, I couldn't do anything." The floodwaters receded, and she managed to leave the building with her sisters just before it collapsed, but their mother was inside.
