Two dams burst in Libya on Sunday during Storm Daniel with barely any warning. The tremendous floodwaters swept away whole buildings in the Libyan town of Derna.
At least 11,300 people are confirmed dead, but that number could be as high as 20,000 with many still missing. Now there is also a fear of disease with contaminated water in the streets.
There is still no electricity in Derna and communication is severely hampered. Local media calls it catastrophic. The situation is making it difficult for family and friends to contact missing loved ones if they are still alive.
Riadh Jaballah, Vice President of International Ministry and Operations with The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, says they are working to connect with their Libyan Christian contacts in the area through social media channels.
“Most of our friends live far from the affected area in Derna. One of our sisters who lives abroad, all her family lives in Derna. She lost one of her relatives families and the rest of the family members lost their homes.”
Even under normal circumstances, communication between Christians in Libya is difficult. Jaballah says, “It’s not easy at all to connect between each other for the security reasons. Christians in Libya, they are an underground church.”
As VOM Canada makes contact with more Libyan believers affected by the flooding, Jaballah asks for your prayers.
“Pray for our brothers and sisters in Libya who are suffering from fear and trauma due to these devastating disasters…but also wisdom and strength to the believers to be light and salt during these very difficult times.”
Also, please pray for improved communications and for Libyan flood survivors to soon get in touch with family and friends searching for them.
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This story originally appeared at Mission Network News and is republished here with permission.