Derna and other cities are isolated from the rest of the country despite efforts by authorities to restore mobile phone and internet networks.
Since the violent earthquake that shook the city of Al Marj (east) in 1963, this is the worst natural disaster to hit this area of the country.
Help arrives little by little
Aid and assistance convoys were heading towards the city.
Libya is politically divided between east and west and public services have collapsed since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising, which sparked years of conflict.
The internationally recognized government in Tripoli does not control the eastern areas but has sent aid to Derna, and at least one relief flight left the western city of Misrata on Tuesday, a Reuters journalist on the plane said.
Eastern Libya is home to the main oil fields and terminals. The National Oil Company (NOC) has declared a “state of maximum alert” and “suspended flights” between production centers, where activity has been drastically reduced.
Emergency teams sent by Turkey also arrived in the disaster area, according to authorities.
The US ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, announced that the embassy had issued a “statement of humanitarian needs (that) will authorize initial funding” for his country to provide aid to emergency teams, according to a message on -Twitter).
The European Union (EU) also said it was willing to send aid, as the bloc’s head of diplomacy, Josep Borrel, also stated in X.
Described by experts as an “extreme” phenomenon in terms of the amount of water falling, Storm Daniel affected Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria in recent days, leaving 27 dead.
With information from AFP and Reuters