Search and rescue operations are underway after flash floods killed at least 37 people in the Moroccan city of Safi.
Drought-stricken Morocco is often hit by severe weather, but Sunday’s flooding in a coastal city was the deadliest such disaster in at least a decade.
Muddy torrents swept away cars and trash bins through the streets of Safi, about 300 km (190 miles) south of the capital Rabat.
Morocco’s national weather forecaster, the Directorate General of Meteorology (DGM), has warned that more storms are expected over the next three days in several areas, including Safi.
The survivors are still being treated at the city’s Mohammed V Hospital, while two people are in intensive care, according to local officials.
Schools have been closed due to the roads being filled with mud and debris.
Safi is known as a center of arts and crafts, especially terracotta pottery, and its streets were strewn with broken bowls and tajine.
Morocco’s prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation to determine whether anyone is responsible for the scale of the damage, according to official news agency MAP.
Addressing parliament, Prime Minister Aziz Akhnouch said: “Thirty-seven millimeters (1.5 in) of rain fell in a short period, affecting the historic Bab Chaba district of Safi, which is crossed by a river, and killing many traders and workers.”
As the water receded, a landscape of mud and overturned cars emerged. Civil defense units and residents soon began clearing debris.
Morocco is experiencing a severe drought for the seventh consecutive year, and last year was the North African state’s wettest year on record.
Climate change has made hurricanes more intense, as a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture and warmer oceans can fuel weather systems.
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