Massive floods are hitting areas in Morocco, especially the northwest of the kingdom, prompting the authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of residents. The Interior Ministry said Thursday that it had evacuated 143,000 people from the region. In light of this situation, a number of questions arise about the causes of these floods and their repercussions, noting that the country experienced seven years of drought before this “exceptional” phenomenon. Engineer Mohamed Benabo, an expert in climate and development, evaluates the current situation during this dialogue and examines the causes that led to these floods and their repercussions.

Published on: 05/02/2026 - 18:45

Areas in the far north of Morocco and southern Spain are witnessing weather disturbances, causing massive floods after continuous rainfall for days, due to the “Leonardo depression,” according to a statement by the communication officer at the Moroccan General Meteorological Directorate, Hussein Bouabed, to France 24.

The Moroccan Ministry of the Interior announced Thursday that the authorities evacuated more than 143,000 people from the plains in the northwest of the country, which are at risk of floods and torrents, amid increasing risks due to heavy rains, increased river levels, and the release of more water from full dams. The authorities had evacuated the entire city of Qasr al-Kebir.

Bouabed said, "The rainy weather in the Kingdom will continue until next week, and includes especially the regions of Tangier, the Rif, and the Lokos, and the amounts of precipitation will range between 60 and 90 millimetres, as well as Chefchaouen, Larache, Al Hoceima, and Taza, and from 40 to 60 millimeters in Taounate and Ouzane. All of these regions have been issued an orange warning notice during today, Thursday, and tomorrow, Friday."

“These precipitations will continue until Monday specifically. Starting Tuesday, the weather will gradually stabilize as a result of an extension of an air high,” according to the same source. Bouabed called on residents to exercise "more caution and caution." According to our interviewer, 2026 is “the third year in which Morocco will witness strong rainfall, after the rainfall of 2010 and 1996.”

Official data showed that rainfall in Morocco rose by 215 percent over last year and 54 percent above the historical average. The filling rate of local dams rose to approximately 62 percent compared to the level of 27 percent last year, with several large dams partially emptying to accommodate new flows after their reservoirs were full.

Read also: Morocco: The Grand Palace...an abandoned city whose residents left to escape the danger of floods

To evaluate the current situation and find out the reasons that led to these floods and their general repercussions, we conducted a dialogue with Engineer Mohamed Benabou, an expert in climate and development.

What is your assessment of the current water situation as heavy rainfall continues?

Heavy precipitation will continue in the northwestern region until the beginning of next week, which will increase the filling of the dams, which will be accompanied by gradual emptying operations under the supervision of specialists, noting that the dams have a cohesive structure that can withstand the huge amounts of rain that the Kingdom has witnessed. Therefore, there is no fear for water facilities. Morocco has great experience in the field of building dams due to their durability and strength in the face of climate change. There can be no doubt about that. Today, there are dams that are full to capacity, such as the Wadi Al-Makhazin Dam, Al-Wahda Dam, Idris I Dam, Al-Kanzara Dam, Al-Wad Al-Maleh Dam, the Muhammad bin Abdullah Dam, and others. All of them are emptied according to professional standards in order to protect citizens near these dams from floods. In addition to the evacuation procedures that included a group of areas, especially in Qasr Lakbir. The goal is to achieve zero deaths from these floods.

How can these floods be explained scientifically, given that Morocco has lived through many years of drought?

Many experts agree that Morocco is experiencing an exceptional situation as a result of the huge amounts of rain that fell on the Kingdom in a short period of time. The dry climate remains the prevailing one that lasts a long time, and from time to time these exceptional waves come. These rains began in Safi during the month of December and today have affected other areas of the Kingdom. This can be explained by the fact that the Azores High [is a high pressure system that usually forms over the Atlantic Ocean, near the Azores Islands. It is characterized by the presence of high atmospheric pressure, which makes it pivotal in the distribution of air at the level of the Northern Hemisphere - Editor] It blocks all the humid depressions at the level of the Atlantic Ocean, which is what makes us live in a drought rhythm for years.

Was it different this year?

This year, due to its shift (the Azorean Ridge) due to the influence of the La Niña phenomenon, it moved towards the north of Scandinavia, leaving the Atlantic front open to these depressions, and thus this year we received all the wet depressions without exception from the beginning of September until today.

Even the geographical location of the country imposes an arid or semi-arid climate system on it. All of these climate forms that we experience today are experienced by the countries of the Mediterranean Basin as a hotspot. It is characterized by the periodic return of rain after it has been absent for a year or two, and it may last up to seven years, as we saw during the previous period.

We should not forget that high temperatures in seasons outside the summer lead to the evaporation of significant amounts of water. Long years of drought also negatively affect the soil, as it hardens and does not sufficiently absorb rainwater. This saturation of the soil today contributed to these floods in a very large way.

What are the repercussions of these floods?

Despite these floods, the impact of these rains will be very positive on dams and water beds, forest cover, pastoral areas, rivers and agriculture in general. The authorities and the army played a major role in containing this crisis. The goal from the beginning was to get out of it with zero casualties.

Are these floods related to Storm Leonardo that struck Spain and Portugal?

If they called it Leonardo, we could call it Low. The word storm is more severe, because its impact is very strong, whether at the level of winds that exceed 200 kilometers per hour, and we did not record this speed, or at the level of high wave heights and dangerous stormy rains. Most of the depressions that affected the other side of the Mediterranean had an impact on Morocco.

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