customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Moroccan authorities on Sunday said that 11 people died and nine were missing in flooding caused by an “exceptional” climate phenomenon in southern areas.
Interior ministry spokesman Rachid Khalfi said authorities recorded an initial “toll of 11 deaths” after “heavy thunderstorms” that hit “17 prefectures and provinces in the kingdom”.
Among the victims, seven died in the province of Tata, some 740km (460 miles) south of Rabat, and two in Errachidia, almost 500km east of Marrakesh, according to Khalfi.
He said one of the victims had foreign citizenship, without providing further details.

Khalfi also said “the volume of precipitation recorded in two days is equivalent to that which these regions normally experience during an entire year”.
The floods also caused the collapse of 40 homes and damaged 93 roads, and “affected electricity, drinking water and telephone networks”, he added.
Usually arid areas in southern Morocco and Algeria have been drenched in floods caused by massive rainfall since Friday, officials told Agence France-Presse on Sunday.
Areas in southern Morocco have been affected “by an extremely unstable tropical air mass”, the spokesman for the Moroccan General Directorate of Meteorology, Lhoussaine Youabd, said.
This “led to the formation of unstable and violent clouds” that caused massive rainfall, he said, describing the phenomenon as “exceptional”.
As a result, the Ouarzazate region received 47mm of water in three hours, and Tagounite, near the Algerian border, some 170mm, according to the Moroccan weather service.

“We haven’t seen such rain for about 10 years,” Omar Gana, an Ouarzazate local, said.
The heavy rains hit regions of Morocco that have been suffering from drought for at least six years.
In a previous toll, Algerian civil defence said one person died in Illizi, some 1,900km south of Algiers, and one was missing in flooding in the south.
Later in the day, it gave a total of two people missing, in El Bayadh and Tamanrasset.
It also said it had rescued several families trapped by flooded rivers in the south.
Videos posted on social media showed that some areas in the Sahara desert were drenched. In Morocco’s Ouarzazate, entire streets were flooded.
Morocco has been experiencing severe water stress after six consecutive years of drought, shrinking dam levels to less than 28 per cent of capacity by the end of August.


Nearly 300 inmates escape Nigerian prison after walls collapse in floods

8 more migrants die trying to cross Channel to UK from France

Why China is succeeding in Africa where the US is failing

China’s investment in Africa is getting a shake-up as the next belt and road phase beckons

Africa

Deadly floods hit Morocco after ‘a years’ worth of rain in 2 days’

A car drives through a flooded street in Morocco’s Zagora region on Saturday. Photo: AFP

A collapsed house after flooding in Morocco’s Zagora region on Friday. Photo: AFP

A flooded field in Morocco’s Zagora region. Photo: AFP

Floods in Yemen kill at least 33 people, damage more than 200 homes

Vehicles drive through a flooded stream caused by heavy rains in Sana’a, Yemen, on Wednesday. At least 33 people have died and 28 homes were destroyed after a dam collapsed in the province of Al-Mahweet after heavy rains and floods. Photo: EPA-EFE

Super Typhoon Yagi lashes south China, killing 4 and injuring 95

Strong wings from Super Typhoon Yagi batter coconut trees in Haikou, capital of south China’s island province of Hainan,  on Friday. Photo: Xinhua via AP

Huge waves lash the shore in Wenchang city, Hainan province, on Friday. Photo: Xinhua

Dam bursts in eastern Sudan, at least 30 dead and many missing

A man wades through muddy waters after the collapse of the Arbaat Dam. Photo: AFP

People on a bridge damaged due to floods after the collapse of Arbaat Dam. Photo: Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council via Xinhua

Buildings near the Arbaat Dam after it collapsed. Photo: AFP

Floods in Nigeria kill hundreds and wash away farmland, as millions face famine

A motorcyclist rides through a flooded street after a heavy downpour in Lagos, Nigeria, July 10, 2024. Photo: AP

Women walk along a flooded street after a heavy downpour in Lagos, Nigeria, July 10, 2024. Nigerians face hunger as flooding washes away farmland and threatens the growing season for farmers. Photo: AP

Death toll from Uganda rubbish dump landslide rises to 35

Rescuers carry the body of a victim retrieved from the site of a garbage dump landslide at Kiteezi landfill in Kampala, Uganda. Photo: Xinhua

Volunteers search to retrieve the bodies of residents in a landfill known as Kiteezi that serves as garbage dumping site, in the Lusanja village outside Kampala. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Usually arid areas in southern Morocco and Algeria have been drenched in floods caused by massive rainfall since Friday, officials said


Usually arid areas in southern Morocco and Algeria have been drenched in floods caused by massive rainfall since Friday, officials said.
