Officials in eastern Libya says more than 10,000 people reported missing while 150 people were killed in devastating floods caused by storm Daniel.

The unfortunate incident happened on Sunday afternoon after storm Daniel swept the Mediterranean, lashing Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.

The actual death toll, however, is probably much higher, according to Tamer Ramadan of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

“Our teams on the ground are still doing their assessment (but) from what we see and from the news coming to us, the death toll is huge,” he told reporters in Geneva via video link from Tunis.

“It might reach to the thousands,” he said in English. “We don’t have a definite number right now.”

Independent sources had told the IFRC the number reported missing was “hitting 10,000 persons so far”.

“The humanitarian needs are much more beyond the abilities of the Libyan Red Crescent and even the abilities of the government.

“That’s why the government in the east has issued an international appeal for support,” Ramadan said, noting that IFRC was also preparing to launch an emergency appeal for funds towards the response.

The World Health Organization, WHO,  spokeswoman Margaret Harris described the Libya floods as “a calamity of epic proportions”.

Experts have described storm Daniel — which killed at least 27 people when it struck parts of Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey in recent days — as “extreme in terms of the amount of water falling in a space of 24 hours”.

Hichem Abu Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation in the administration that controls the east after visiting Derna said, “Bodies are lying everywhere – in the sea, in the valleys, under the buildings.

“The number of bodies recovered in Derna is more 1,000,” Chkiouat added. “I am not exaggerating when I say that 25 percent of the city has disappeared. Many, many buildings have collapsed.”