Video shows water gushing through port as 8 months worth of rain falls on Libya

♪ ♪ ♪ WE BEGIN WITH ANOTHER DEVASTATING NATURAL DISASTER IN NORTH AFRICA, FEW DAYS AFTER THE DEADLY EARTHQUAKE IN MOROCCO LIBYA IS NOW FACING LARGE FLOODS THAT ELIMINATED LARGE VILLAGES AND ARE SUPPOSED TO KILL THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE. VIDEO OF THE REGION, YOU CAN SEE IT THERE, SHOWS COLLAPSED BUILDINGS, SUBMERGED CARS, TORRENTS OF WATER RUNNING THROUGH THE STREETS. LIBYA'S NATIONAL ARMY AND HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY MORE THAN 2,000 PEOPLE ARE DEAD AND 5 TO 6,000 MISSING. OF COURSE, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO VERIFY THOSE NUMBERS, SINCE MANY AREAS ARE STILL UNREACHABLE AND WITHOUT COMMUNICATION. THE CITY OF DERNA WAS ESPECIALLY TOUGH. AUTHORITIES SAY TWO COLLAPSED, THREE BRIDGES WERE DESTROYED AND PHONE LINES STILL DOWN.

THE STORM SYSTEM DROPPED APPROXIMATELY EIGHT MONTHS OF RAIN ON THE REGION IN A SINGLE DAY. AND THERE WERE CATASTROPHIC FLOODS IN GREECE LAST WEEK. THE PHOTOS ARE SIMPLY AMAZING. WE NOW BROADCAST LIVE TO CNN'S ELENI GIOKOS, WHO HAS BEEN FOLLOWING DEVELOPMENTS FOR US FROM DUBAI. NOW, SHOCKINGLY, THE CHIEF OF LIBYA'S EMERGENCY AND AMBULANCE SERVICES ADMITTED TO CNN THAT THERE WAS NO WARNING FOR PEOPLE, NO WARNING TO EVACUATE, TO REACH HIGHER GROUND OR TO REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS COMING THEIR WAY. AND YOU KNOW THOSE EMERGENCY SERVICES ALSO SAID THAT THERE IS JUST A LACK OF PREPARATION, THAT THE WEATHER CONDITIONS WERE NOT STUDY, THAT THERE IS AN UNDERSTANDING OF SEA LEVEL RISE AND WHAT THE STORM COULD MEAN.

AND OF COURSE MANY ASK ABOUT NEGLIGENCE IN THE SITUATION. PEOPLE WOKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WHEN THE STORM HIT TO SEE THEIR HOMES FLOODED, SOME SAY UP TO THREE METERS. AND THEY ARE DESPERATELY TRYING TO FIND A WAY OUT. AND OF COURSE WE SEE THESE IMAGES OF WATER EVERYWHERE. THE CARS WERE SWEEPED. THE SWEEPING PEOPLE. MANY AREAS ARE NOW ISOLATED, MAKING IT VERY DIFFICULT FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS TO TRY TO FIND OUT WHO THEY NEED TO SAVE AND WHAT THE NEXT PROCESS IS. I mean, some of the search and rescue teams can't even have access and communication with the teams that are currently on the ground.

So, we're talking about a Mets catastrophe. TO AGGRAVATE THE SITUATION, YOU HAVE TWO DAMS THAT WERE CRASHED, WHERE WE NOW SEE THE EPICENTER OF THE GREAT TRAGEDY IN THE CITY OF DONNA. AND THAT OF COURSE CAUSING MORE WATER UNDER PRESSURE, FILLING THE VALLEY, CAUSING MORE CATASTROPHE. WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IS THAT YOU HAVE ROADS AND HOUSES THAT ARE BASICALLY MELTING WITH THIS WATER. THE AUTHORITIES TELL US THERE ARE STILL BODIES LAYING AROUND HERE. So when we say that the death toll is now over 2000, it is difficult to determine the number at this time. BETWEEN FIVE AND 6,000 POLYCYSTIC PEOPLE MISSING.

YOU HAVE THE UN ON THE GROUND, TURKEY, UAE, AS WELL AS QATAR SENDING AID, STORM DANIEL WREAKING HAVOC, NOT ONLY NOW WHAT WE HAVE SEEN IN LIBYA, BUT ALSO IN GREECE AND TURKEY JUST A FEW DAYS AGO. AND NOW MOVING TOWARD NORTH EGYPT, THE NEXT TWO DAYS EXPECT AN ADDITIONAL 50 MILIMETERS OF RAIN. TO UNDERSTAND WHAT KIND OF RAIN THE CITY OF DERNA DOES NOT HAVE IN SEPTEMBER, IT BARELY REACHES TEN MILITARY, TEN MILLIMETERS. SO WE ARE TALKING ABOUT NUMBERS WHO HAVE NOT FELT IT BEFORE RIGHT NOW. SEARCH AND RESCUE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO TRY TO ACCESS PEOPLE.

THE PHONE LINES ARE DOWN, THE INTERNET IS DOWN, THE POWER LINES ARE DOWN, MAKING IT MUCH HARDER TO STAY AWAY. I WANT TO LOOK, THE IMAGES WE ARE SEEING ARE SIMPLY SHOCKING. AND AGAIN, IT SEEMS LIKE THE DEVASTATION IS WIDESPREAD. ELENI, WHAT ELSE CAN SOMEONE HERE DO TO TRY TO COORDINATE AID TO THIS COUNTRY? I mean Libya has been in political crisis for some time now. EXACTLY, YOU HAVE IT. AND THE QUESTION IS: IS THERE A CENTRALIZED SYSTEM WHERE THE EAST AND THE WEST CAN BE IN COMMUNICATION TO FIND OUT THE NEXT STEPS HERE? YOU MUST REMEMBER THAT THE EAST IS CONTROLLED BY THE LIBYAN NATIONAL ARMY, AND THE WEST IS CONTROLLED BY AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED GOVERNMENT.

BOTH FACTIONS HAVE BEEN COMPETING FOR POWER FOR A LONG TIME. CLEARLY, THERE IS A DISCONNECTION IN COMMUNICATION HERE. WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THAT THE WEST HAS DECLARED THREE DAYS OF MOURNING. CLEARLY THIS HAPPENS IN A COUNTRY THAT HAS A LOT OF POLITICAL UNTURN. BUT AT A TIME WHEN THEY NEED TO COME TOGETHER TO DECLARE THE NEXT STEPS HERE. THE FACT THAT WE ALREADY HAVE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IS A STEP FORWARD. BUT MUCH MORE IS NEEDED, PAULA, BECAUSE THE SEARCH AND RESCUE STILL CONTINUES. THE CATASTROPHE IS GOING TO CONTINUE FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT TWO DAYS. AND THE QUESTION THEN BECOMES CLEANUP AFTER.

BUT OF COURSE, THAT WOULD BE THE CONSEQUENCE OF THIS, AS YOU SAY, APOCALYPTIC SCENARIO THAT IS OCCURRING IN VILLAGES, AND WE ARE TALKING ABOUT DERNA HERE, BUT HERE YOU HAVE BENGHAZI, YOU HAVE ANOTHER CITY. BE IMPACTED. AND OTHER TOWNS ARE BEING COMPLETELY SWEEPED AND UNDERWATER BECAUSE OF BEING WEAK. YES, THIS WOULD BE LIKE A BIG STORM HITTING THE UNITED STATES, A BIG HURRICANE,