Emergency personnel discovered more than 1,500 dead in the debris of Derna, a city in eastern Libya, on Tuesday, and it was feared that the death toll may top 5,000 as floodwaters breached dams and wiped away entire neighborhoods.

The shocking loss of life and destruction brought on by Mediterranean storm Daniel highlighted both the storm’s power and the vulnerability of a country that has been torn apart by anarchy for more than a decade.

Rival regimes that control opposite sides of the nation—one in the east and the other in the west—have caused widespread infrastructure disrepair. More than 36 hours after the accident, outside assistance was only just beginning to reach Derna on Tuesday.

Many of the city’s 89,000-person access roadways were damaged or destroyed by the floods.

In one hospital’s yard, video revealed dozens of remains that were draped in blankets.

A mass grave filled with bodies was depicted in another photograph. According to the health minister for eastern Libya, more than 1,500 bodies were gathered, and as of Tuesday night, half of them had been interred.

The death toll was estimated to be over 5,000 by at least one official. Mohammed Abu-Lamousha, a spokesman for the East Libya interior ministry, was quoted by the state-run news agency as saying that more than 5,300 people had killed in Derna alone.

Early on Tuesday, Derna’s ambulance authority reported 2,300 fatalities. However, the death toll is probably greater, according to Tamer Ramadan, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ representative in Libya.

Through a videoconference from Tunisia, he informed a U.N. meeting in Geneva that at least 10,000 people were remained unaccounted for. More than 40,000 people have been displaced, he said later on Tuesday.