Death toll from flooding in Libya surpasses 5,000; thousands more injured as help arrives

The death toll in Libya has surpassed 5,300 people after a storm caused dams in a coastal city to break, leaving thousands more injured.

Muhammad Abu Moshe told the Libyan News Agency the death toll for the entire region is at least 5,300 after Storm Daniel made landfall on Sunday and dropped as much as 16 inches of rain in the Northern African country. Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria also experienced flooding, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Devastation from the flooding stretches along Libya's northeastern coast.

The organization said the record-high rainfall overwhelmed dams in Derna, a city along the Mediterranean Sea, leading to the floods. Over in Greece, the organization said the village of Zagora experienced the equivalent of about 18 months of rainfall in 24 hours.

More than 7,000 people are injured in Derna, Ossama Ali, a spokesman for the Ambulance and Emergency Center in eastern Libya, said, adding that, most of them received treatment at field hospitals. The number of deaths is likely to increase, he said, since search and rescue teams are still collecting bodies from the streets, buildings and the sea.

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President Joe Biden said the U.S. is sending emergency funds to relief organizations and is working with Libya and the United Nations to give more support.

The U.S. Embassy in Libya Special Envoy Ambassador Richard Norland said the embassy declared a humanitarian need in Libya to help those affected by the floods, according to a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

"In addition, we have been contacted by many Libyan Americans anxious to make private contributions to relief efforts and we will work with Libyan authorities to direct those resources to where they are most needed,” he wrote.

At least 30,000 people have been displaced by the flood, the United Nation's International Organization for Migration in Libya said on X.

More:2,000 people feared dead in flooding in eastern Libya after weekend storm

Aid pours into country's coast

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Middle East and Africa posted on X the first shipment of aid for Libya is on the way from Kuwait's Red Cross. The organization said it has 40 tons of relief, medical supplies and rescue boats.

Tamer Ramadan, head of the federation, requested countries to consider Libya when sending out relief in a post on X.

"Hopefully it will not be a forgotten crisis and resources will be provided to alleviate human suffering," he wrote.

Europe's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations said in a Wednesday release European Union members Germany, Romania and Finland have offered tents, field beds and blankets, 80 generators, food and hospital tents to Libya.

Islamic Relief, a faith-inspired relief and development agency headquartered in the United Kingdom, is in Libya donating items for rescue and recovery efforts. So far, it has committed 100,000 euros ($124,876) to provide more assistance and is collecting funds on its website, Islamic-Relief.org.

Ahmed Abdalla, a survivor who joined the search and rescue effort, said they were putting bodies in the yard of a local hospital before taking them for burial in mass graves at the city's sole intact cemetery.

“The situation is indescribable. Entire families dead in this disaster. Some were washed away to the sea,” Abdalla said by phone from Derna.

Contributing: The Associated Press