A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
Violent storms (starting when) have caused widespread flooding and flood several wadis (river) in a large part of the south of the country. The storms were still ongoing late afternoon of Sunday 23 November and an awareness bulletin remained in effect until Monday noon (24 November), according to the national meteorology. In total there are 36 deaths, two missing and 500 rescued.
At least 140 houses built of adobe were destroyed and 100 roads were cut off, including six national highways. A report issued by the Ministry of Equipment, Transport and Logistics indicated 25 road cut and hundreds of archways threatened by floods. Precipitation that exceeded 120 mm/24 hours affected the Atlantic coast of Tangier in Sidi Ifni, the chain of the High and Anti Atlas, center and east of the country accompanied of a temperature drop with snowfall in altitudes from 1,700 m which would complicate the situation.
While flash floods are fairly common in Morocco, the recent downpours have been "particularly intense". More rain and potential new flooding issues are expected for late Friday when the heaviest rain is forecast to move through. That is when the flood danger will be highest. With the ground already saturated, any torrential rain would quickly trigger new flooding problems. Periods of rain and potentially more flooding issues will follow for Saturday.