A series of winter storms has caused severe flooding in Morocco, Spain and Portugal in recent days. People have lost their lives in several regions, hundreds of thousands have been forced to leave their homes, and the damage to infrastructure, agriculture and residential buildings is considerable.
In Morocco, flash floods caused by Storm Marta claimed at least four lives. According to the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior, three children and one man died when their vehicle was swept away by the floodwaters. The north-west of the country, which had already been severely affected by a previous storm, was particularly hard hit. Rivers and dams burst their banks, houses and crops were damaged, and isolated landslides occurred. Important transport links were temporarily disrupted. More than 150,000 people were evacuated, and numerous farms fear significant crop losses.
In Spain and Portugal, too, the persistent heavy rainfall resulted in fatalities and extensive damage. One woman died in Spain, while in Portugal there were 13 fatalities within a week. Hundreds of people were injured during the clean-up operations there. The military was deployed to support the civil protection forces. According to the Portuguese government, the economic damage amounts to several million euros. Despite intermittent breaks in the rain, large areas in many regions remain flooded, reservoirs are full and the risk of landslides is increased.
These events highlight the growing challenge posed by heavy rainfall and flooding. While Morocco has been suffering from severe drought in the summer months for years, storms regularly occur in autumn and winter. As a result of climate change, the frequency and intensity of severe weather events continue to increase. In December, numerous people lost their lives in floods in southern Morocco.
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