• By Aditya Jha
  • Sat, 12 Oct 2024 12:41 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

Dramatic pictures have emerged from southeast Morocco as a rare deluge of rainfall caused the first floods in the Sahara in half a century. Officials of the country’s meteorology agency said that two days of rainfall in September exceeded yearly averages in several areas of southeast Morocco. 

Tagounite village, located 450km south of the capital, Rabat, recorded over 100mm of rain in just 24 hours in September. Satellite images from NASA showed that Lake Iriqui was filled up. Iriqui, a lake bed between Zagora and Tata had been dry for 50 years. 

Houssine Youabeb, an official of Morocco's meteorology agency, has expressed his disbelief by saying that the region has received this rainfall after decades. "It's been 30 to 50 years since we've had this much rain in such a short space of time," he said. 

ALSO READ: Nayab Singh Saini To Take Oath As Haryana Chief Minister On October 17 With His Council Of Ministers

Youabeb further explained that meteorologists call these rains an extratropical storm, which may severely change the weather conditions of the region in the coming months and years. He further elaborated that as the air holds more moisture, it promotes evaporation and provokes more storms. 

The Sahara, the world’s largest hot desert, spanning over a dozen countries in north, central, and west Africa, faces threats from the extreme weather due to global warming. Scientists have warned the authorities that future storms of similar or greater magnitude could become more frequent in this region. 

Earlier this month, flooding in Morocco claimed 18 lives, and it had an impact on the regions still recovering from an earthquake last year, The Guardian reported.

The government of Morocco has released a relief fund for all those who got affected because of the floods. Before the floods, farmers were forced to leave their fields as there was a period of six consecutive years of drought. Apart from the challenges, the rainfall is likely to refill the large groundwater aquifers that lie beneath the desert.