Sudden floods caused by a storm in northern Morocco have claimed the lives of at least four people, as the country battled heavy rains and water discharges from overflowing dams, leading to mass evacuations. This is reported by AP with reference to local authorities, according to UNN.
Details
Three children — a girl and two boys aged 2 to 14 — and a man in his 30s died in a car that was swept away in a village near Tetouan, about 270 kilometers (168 miles) north of the capital Rabat, according to a statement from the Ministry of Interior citing local authorities. Another person remains missing.
Local authorities stated that they would launch an investigation into what happened.
Additionally
The sudden floods were caused by a storm system known as Martha, which moved into Morocco over the weekend and brought up to 92 millimeters (3.6 inches) of rainfall to some northern cities, Hussin Youabed of Morocco's General Directorate of Meteorology told The Associated Press. Storm Martha also reached neighboring Spain and Portugal.
A few days earlier, another storm, Leonardo, hit North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. In Morocco, it overflowed dams and rivers, damaging homes and crops, causing minor landslides, and forcing more than 150,000 people to evacuate.
According to officials, the turbulent weather also provided Morocco with at least a year's supply of drinking water and increased resources for the country's critical agricultural sector, providing relief after years of drought.