Authorities distribute help to tens of hundreds of households hit by lethal winter storms
Printed On 17 Dec 2025
Morocco has launched a nationwide emergency aid operation to help households affected by extreme winter climate as communities throughout the nation grapple with deadly floods and plunging temperatures.
The help program was introduced on Tuesday and can attain roughly 73,000 households throughout 28 provinces hit by freezing circumstances, torrential rains and snowstorms, authorities mentioned.
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Authorities are distributing meals provides and blankets to households in affected areas, as climate officers warn that harmful circumstances will persist within the coming days.
The aid effort follows a catastrophic flash flood within the coastal metropolis of Safi on Sunday that killed 37 folks when a sudden deluge overwhelmed the town.
About 70 properties and outlets had been damaged after only one hour of intense rainfall, with muddy torrents sweeping autos by means of the streets and trapping residents inside buildings.
Fourteen folks required hospital therapy, with two remaining in intensive care, officers mentioned. Faculties throughout Safi have closed for not less than three days as particles and dust proceed to dam roads.
The catastrophe unfolded within the Bab Chabaa district, the place water ranges surged to about 4 metres (13ft) in some areas. One resident, a 67-year-old rights activist, described how shopkeepers turned trapped after locking themselves inside their shops as floodwaters rose quickly, with some retailers and employees unable to flee.
A mom of six instructed reporters her household had “misplaced all the things”, whereas one other resident mentioned she fled her dwelling with solely the garments she was carrying.
Prosecutors have opened an investigation into whether or not infrastructure failures contributed to the dimensions of the tragedy. Whereas a authorities meteorologist famous that rainfall ranges had been typical for the area, officers are analyzing whether or not insufficient drainage programs could have worsened the flooding.
Climate authorities issued a crimson alert on Tuesday for snowfall reaching 80cm (31in) within the Excessive Atlas mountains, with an orange alert for heavy rain throughout central and northern areas.
In mountain areas southeast of the capital Rabat, snow depths have reached 50cm (20in) with in a single day temperatures dropping under freezing.
The acute climate comes after seven consecutive years of drought that left most of the nation’s foremost reservoirs depleted. Final yr was Morocco’s hottest on report, and local weather scientists say warming temperatures are making storms extra intense and unpredictable throughout North Africa.
The Safi catastrophe occurred simply days after 22 folks died when two buildings collapsed in the historic city of Fes, elevating new questions on constructing requirements and concrete infrastructure in Morocco’s older districts.
