An inside account of devastation and survival in the Derna, Libya floods

Two dams collapsed and whole neighborhoods were washed away after a storm slammed the city of Derna, Libya and others along the Mediterranean coast this week.

The extent of the damage still isn’t known, but so far at least 5,000 people have been confirmed dead and thousands more are still missing.

Huda Akram is a doctor based in Benghazi, Libya, whose family hails from Derna. She spoke to All Things Considered’s Mary Louise Kelly on Wednesday, describing the harrowing scenes and what is happening now.

This interview contains details that are vivid and disturbing.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview highlights

Mary Louise Kelly: May I begin by asking after your family — have you been able to reach them? Are they OK?

Huda Akram: Oh, well, my uncles and my aunts, they’re fine, both from my mother’s and my father’s side. But my grandmother, unfortunately, did not make it, with my aunt.

Kelly: I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.

Akram: But her son survived, though. At first, we heard there’s a storm coming. We thought it’s just a [bit] of rain, people can seek shelter on the rooftops of their houses. But then as things started to get bad, started to become worse, we heard that the dam collapsed. However, we only saw the footage. Even after we heard the dam collapse, we couldn’t even imagine that it would be this bad.

It’s just in split seconds. People who are anticipating, they managed to warn the others to run. And my cousin was telling me, “We were running and the water was just running after us.” And they stayed there on the rooftop — they were holding on because the water was also pushing them. There’s a lot of people [whose] entire households, entire family name from the grandfather to the husband and wives and grandchildren [were] completely wiped.

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