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, JUST DAYS AFTER THE DEADLY EARTHQUAKE IN MOROCCO LIBYA IS NOW COPING WITH MAJOR FLOODING THAT’S WIPED OUT MAJOR VILLAGES AND REPORTEDLY KILLED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE. VIDEO FROM THE REGION, YOU CAN SEE IT THERE, SHOWS BUILDINGS COLLAPSED, CARS SUBMERGED, TORRENTS OF WATER RUSHING THROUGH THE STREETS. THE LIBYAN NATIONAL ARMY AND HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY MORE THAN 2000 PEOPLE ARE DEAD, 5 TO 6000 MISSING. OF COURSE, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO VERIFY THOSE NUMBERS, AS MANY AREAS ARE STILL UNREACHABLE AND WITHOUT COMMUNICATION. THE CITY OF DERNA

WAS ESPECIALLY HARD HIT. AUTHORITIES SAY TWO COLLAPSED, THREE BRIDGES WERE DESTROYED, AND PHONE LINES REMAIN DOWN. THE STORM SYSTEM DUMPED ABOUT EIGHT MONTHS WORTH OF RAIN IN THE REGION IN JUST A SINGLE DAY. AND THERE WAS CATASTROPHIC FLOODING IN GREECE JUST LAST WEEK. THE PICTURES ARE JUST STAGGERING. WE GO LIVE NOW TO CNN’S ELENI GIOKOS, WHO’S BEEN FOLLOWING DEVELOPMENTS FOR US FROM DUBAI. NOW SHOCKINGLY, THE HEAD OF LIBYA’S EMERGENCY AND AMBULANCE SERVICES ADMITTED TO CNN THAT THERE WAS NO WARNING FOR PEOPLE, NO WARNING TO EVACUATE, TO GET TO HIGHER GROUND OR TO REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT

WAS COMING AT THEM. >> AND YOU KNOW THOSE EMERGENCY SERVICES ALSO SAID THAT THERE IS JUST LACK OF PREPAREDNESS, THAT WEATHER CONDITIONS WEREN’T

STUDIED, THAT THERE IS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE SEA LEVELS RISING AND JUST WHAT THE STORM COULD MEAN. AND OF COURSE, MANY ARE ASKING ABOUT NEGLIGENCE IN THE SITUATION. PEOPLE WOKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WHEN THE STORM HIT SEEING THEIR HOMES FLOODED, SOME SAY UP TO THREE METERS. AND THEY’RE DESPERATELY TRYING TO FIND A WAY TO GET OUT. AND OF COURSE, WE’RE SEEING THESE IMAGES OF WATER EVERYWHERE. CARS WERE SWEPT

AWAY. PEOPLE SWEPT AWAY. SO MANY AREAS ARE NOW ISOLATED, MAKING IT VERY DIFFICULT FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHO THEY NEED TO SAVE AND WHAT IS THE NEXT PROCESS. I MEAN, SOME OF THE SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAMS CAN’T EVEN GET ACCESS AND COMMUNICATIONS UP WITH TEAMS THAT ARE CURRENTLY ON THE GROUND. SO, WE’RE TALKING ABOUT A METS CATASTROPHE HE. EXACERBATING THE SITUATION, YOU HAVE TWO DAMS THAT WERE BURST, WHERE WE SEE NOW THE EPICENTER OF THE BIG TRAGEDY IN THE CITY OF DONNA. AND THAT OF COURSE CAUSING MORE PRESSURE WATER

COMING THROUGH, FILLING UP THE VALLEY, CAUSING MORE CATASTROPHE. WHAT IT SEEMS LIKE, YOU’VE GOT ROADS AND HOMES THAT ARE BASICALLY MELTING AWAY WITH THIS WATER. AUTHORITIES ARE TELLING US THERE’S STILL BODIES LYING AROUND. SO WHEN WE SAY THE DEATH TOLL NOW IS OVER 2000, DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN THE NUMBER AT THIS POINT IN TIME. BETWEEN FIVE AND 6000 PEOPLE POLYCYSTIC MISSING. YOU’VE GOT THE U.N. ON THE GROUND, TURKEY, UAE, AS WELL AS QATAR SENDING ASSISTANCE, STORM DANIEL CAUSING HAVOC, NOT ONLY NOW WHAT WE’VE SEEN IN LIBYA, BUT ALSO IN GREECE AND TURKEY JUST A FEW DAYS

AGO. AND NOW MOVING TOWARDS NORTHERN EGYPT, THE NEXT TWO DAYS THEY’RE EXPECTING AN EXTRA 50 MILLIMETERS OF RAINFALL. TO UNDERSTAND WHAT KIND OF RAINFALL THE CITY OF DERNA HASN’T SEPTEMBER, A BARELY GETS TO TEN MILITARY — TEN MILLIMETERS. SO WE’RE TALKING ABOUT NUMBERS THAT HAVEN’T SEEN HIM FELT BEFORE RIGHT NOW. SEARCH AND RESCUE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO TRY TO GET ACCESS TO PEOPLE. PHONE LINES ARE DOWN, INTERNET IS DOWN, POWER LINES ARE DOWN, MAKING IT A LOT MORE DIFFICULT TO KEEP AWAY. >> I MEAN, LOOK, THE PICTURES THAT WE ARE SEEING ARE SIMPLY

SHOCKING. AND AGAIN, IT SEEMS THE DEVASTATION IS WIDESPREAD. ELENI, WHAT MORE CAN ANYONE DO HERE IN TERMS OF TRYING TO COORDINATE AID TO THIS COUNTRY? I MEAN, LIBYA HAS BEEN IN TURMOIL POLITICALLY FOR QU SOME TIME NOW. >> EXACTLY, IT HAS. AND YOU KNOW, THE QUESTION IS, IS THERE A CENTRALIZED SYSTEM WHERE BOTH THE EAST AND THE WEST CAN BE IN COMMUNICATION TO FIGURE OUT THE NEXT STEPS HERE? YOU’VE GOT TO REMEMBER THE EAST IS CONTROLLED BY THE LIBYAN NATIONAL ARMY, AND THE WEST IS CONTROLLED BY INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZE GOVERNMENT. BOTH OF THESE FACTIONS HAVE BEEN

VYING FOR POWER FOR A VERY LONG TIME. SO CLEARLY, A DISCONNECT IN COMMUNICATION HERE. WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THE WEST HAS DECLARED THREE DAYS OF MOURNING. CLEARLY THIS HAPPENING IN A COUNTRY THAT HAS A LOT OF POLITICAL TURMOIL. BUT AT A TIME WHERE THEY NEED TO COME TOGETHER TO FIGURE THE NEXT STEPS HERE. THE FACT THAT WE’VE ALREADY GOT INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IS A STEP FORWARD. BUT A LOT MORE, PAULA, IS NEEDED, BECAUSE SEARCH AND RESCUE IS STILL ON. CATASTROPHE IS GOING TO CONTINUE FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT TWO DAYS. AND ON THE QUESTION THEN

BECOMES THE CLEANUP AFTER. BUT OF COURSE, THAT WOULD BE THE AFTERMATH OF THIS, AS YOU SAY, APOCALYPTIC SCENARIO THAT IS PLAYING OUT WHERE VILLAGES, AND WE’RE TALKING ABOUT DERNA HERE, BUT YOU’VE GOT BENGHAZI HERE, YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER CITY — BEING IMPACTED. AND OTHER VILLAGES ARE BEING ENTIRELY SWEPT AWAY AND UNDERWATER AS WEAK. >> YEAH, THIS WOULD BE LIKE A LARGE STORM HITTING IN THE UNITED STATES, LARGE HURRICANE,