Over 154,000 evacuated in Morocco amid 'exceptional' floods

Flooding has isolated several towns in northwest Morocco following weeks of heavy rain, with roads cut and more than 154,000 people evacuated from four provinces.

Torrential rains and releases from overfilled dams raised water levels in recent day in rivers such as the Loukkos, triggering floods in several towns, including Ksar El Kebir.

Officials said earlier this week that up to 85 percent of Ksar El Kebir was evacuated, leaving the town nearly deserted.

The city is in Northwest Morocco, a key wheat-producing region made of low-lying plains that drain poorly after weeks of heavy rain, partly due to lack of slope.

Hard-hit villages there include Oulad Hussein in the Sidi Silmane province and Al Haouafate in the Sidi Kacem province. Footage shared by state media shows entire fields submerged in water.

Authorities have barred residents from entering affected areas due to rising water levels. The military has been delivering aid to those affected, and evacuees have been relocated to temporary shelters in nearby areas such as the port city of Tangier.

Morocco’s interior ministry announced in a statement that as of Friday, 154,309 people had been evacuated from the provinces of Larache, Kenitra, Sidi Kacem, and Sidi Slimane due to the flooding which began on 28 January.

The ministry said the evacuations included 112,695 people from Larache, 14,079 from Sidi Kacem, 4,361 from Sidi Slimane – all in the north – and 23,174 from the western Kenitra province.

Authorities have reported no deaths.

Flash floods in the coastal town of Safi killed at least 37 people in December.

Drought ended

The heavy rains have brought some relief to the North African nation after seven years of drought, ending a dry spell and securing at least a year of drinking water by filling reservoirs.

But it also overfilled some dams, damaged crops, disrupted port operations and delayed shipments.

Morocco’s water ministry said it has launched controlled water releases from dams nearing maximum capacity, including the total discharge of more than 372 million cubic meters of water from the Oued Al Makhazine dam near Ksar El Kebir.

Officials said the Oued Al Makhazine dam, which has a capacity of more than 672.8 million cubic meters, had exceeded that level by about 46 percent.

In the last six months, Morocco has recorded 150 millimetres of rainfall, surpassing the country’s average annual level by 32.5 percent. Morocco’s meteorology directorate earlier this week described the climate conditions as "exceptional" and issued a red alert for upcoming heavy rainfall.

Meanwhile, two minor earthquakes were recorded on Saturday in Morocco’s Al Hoceima and Azilal provinces, measuring 3.8 and 2.8 on the Richter scale, respectively, with no reported human or material damage.

Nasser Jabour, director of the Morocco’s National Institute of Geophysics, told Anadolu Agency that dozens of weaker aftershocks were detected across various parts of the country the same day but were largely unfelt as their intensity did not exceed two degrees.

Close to 3,000 people died in a 6.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the High Atlas Mountains in central Morocco in September 2023.

The destruction was particularly bad in isolated mountain villages and thousands were displaced, many still without homes.