Tens of thousands of residents in northern Morocco have been displaced after heavy rains caused severe flooding, authorities said. Over 150,000 people have been evacuated in the past week, with four confirmed dead, including a two-year-old, and one person still missing. In the village of Ouled Ameur, residents like 67-year-old Kasia El Selami fled their homes after alerts from local mosque loudspeakers. Many were rescued from rooftops by boats or helicopters as floodwaters inundated roads, homes, and farmland.
Near Kenitra, about 50 kilometers north of Rabat, nearly 40,000 evacuees are sheltering in a large tent camp. Families are coping with cold, anxiety, and minimal resources, while civil defense officials provide food, clothing, mattresses, and medical and veterinary care. Local residents described water levels rising up to 1.5 meters, with fear that further flooding could prevent them from returning home. Selami and others expressed hope that the ordeal would soon end. The floods follow a series of deadly weather events across North Africa, including 37 deaths in Morocco’s Safi region last December, recent fatalities in Algeria and Tunisia, and severe storms in Portugal and Spain.
