By Exceptional rainfall has caused devastating floods in southern Morocco, resulting in at least 11 deaths and leaving nine people missing, authorities reported on Sunday. The floods have wreaked havoc across 17 prefectures and provinces, causing significant damage to infrastructure and disrupting essential services.
Interior Ministry spokesman Rachid Khalfi told AFP that the death toll includes seven fatalities in the province of Tata, located about 740 kilometers south of Rabat, and two in Errachidia, nearly 500 kilometers east of Marrakesh. One of the victims was identified as a foreign national, though no further details were provided.
The flooding, described by meteorological officials as an “exceptional” climate phenomenon, has led to the collapse of 40 homes and damaged 93 roads. Khalfi reported that electricity, drinking water, and telephone networks have been severely affected in several villages.
Lhoussaine Youabd, spokesman for the Moroccan General Directorate of Meteorology, explained that the region has been hit by “an extremely unstable tropical air mass,” resulting in the formation of volatile and violent clouds. The Ouarzazate region received 47 millimeters of rain in just three hours, while Tagounite, near the Algerian border, saw approximately 170 millimeters.
Local resident Omar Gana told AFP, “We haven’t seen such rain for about 10 years,” highlighting the unusual nature of the rainfall in this typically arid region.
The floods have particularly impacted areas of Morocco that have been suffering from drought for at least six years. By the end of August, dam levels in the country had shrunk to less than 28 percent of capacity due to prolonged water stress.
The extreme weather has also affected neighboring Algeria, where civil defense reported one death in Illizi, about 1,900 kilometers south of Algiers, and one person missing due to flooding in the south. Algerian authorities have been involved in rescuing families trapped by flooded rivers in southern regions.
Social media videos have shown typically arid areas of the Sahara desert inundated with water, while in Morocco’s Ouarzazate, entire streets were submerged.
As rescue and recovery efforts continue, Moroccan authorities are grappling with the immediate crisis while also considering long-term implications for water management and infrastructure resilience in a region increasingly affected by extreme weather events.
