Wadi Derna

The Wadi Derna is a river valley in Libya which leads down from the Jebel Akhdar mountains to the port city of Derna. Like many other wadis in North Africa, it is an intermittent riverbed that for much of its length contains water only when heavy rain occurs.^[1] It is 75 kilometres (47 mi) long^[2] and drains a drainage basin of 575 km².

Wadi Derna
Wadi Derna, January 2010
Wadi Derna drainage basin (Interactive map)
Physical characteristics
Mouth	Mediterranean Sea
• coordinates	32°46′02″N 22°39′05″E
Basin features
Cities	Derna
Waterfalls	Derna waterfalls

Derna waterfalls

The Derna waterfalls are located in Wadi Derna^[1] about 7 km (4.3 mi) to the south of Derna.^[3]

2023 Derna catastrophe

Main article: Derna dam collapses

In September 2023, against the backdrop of the civil war, torrential rainfall from Storm Daniel led to the collapse of two dams—the Derna dam and the downstream Abu Mansour dam—along the river, causing catastrophic flooding in the city of Derna and killing least 5,923 people.^[4][5][6][7] It was one of the deadliest dam failures in history.