RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Heavy rains battered North Africa’s normally dry mountains and deserts over the weekend, triggering floods that have killed more than a dozen people in Morocco and Algeria and destroyed homes and vital infrastructure.
In Morocco, officials said the two days of storms exceeded historical averages, in some cases even the annual average rainfall. The downpours hit some of the regions that experienced a deadly earthquake a year ago.
Meteorologists had predicted that a rare deluge would hit the Sahara in North Africa, where many areas receive less than an inch of rain a year.
Officials in Morocco said 11 people were killed in rural areas where infrastructure was historically lacking, and 24 houses collapsed. Nine people were missing. Water and electricity infrastructure was damaged, as were key roads.
Rachid El Khalfi, spokesman for Morocco’s Interior Ministry, said in a statement on Sunday that the government was working to restore communications and access to flooded areas in the “exceptional situation” and urged people to be cautious.
In neighboring Algeria, where a presidential election Over the weekend, authorities reported at least five deaths in the country’s desert provinces. Interior Minister Brahim Merad called the situation “catastrophic” on state television.
Algeria’s state news service APS reported that the government had sent thousands of civil defense and military officers to help with emergency relief efforts and rescue families trapped in their homes. The floods also damaged bridges and trains.
