Rare flooding in the Sahara Desert in Morocco

Описание: (8 Oct 2024)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4524156

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Merzouga, Morocco – 2 October 2024
1. Various drone shots of flooding in the Sahara ++PART MUTE++

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Casablanca, Morocco – 7 October 2024
++PARTIALLY OVERLAYS SHOT 1++
2. SOUNDBITE (French) Houssine Youabeb, Communication Manager, Morocco's General Directorate of Meteorology:
“It's been 30 to 50 years since we've had this much rain in such a short space of time. It has to be said that even for the geography of the region, since we're on the eastern slopes of the Atlas mountains, we've noticed that it's as if all the rains are directed towards the same areas.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Merzouga, Morocco – 2 October 2024
3. Various drone shots of flooding in the Sahara

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Casablanca, Morocco – 7 October 2024
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Houssine Youabeb, Communication Manager, Morocco's General Directorate of Meteorology:
“There will be more evaporation into the air, more moisture in the air. This excess moisture will therefore fall on certain regions and cause precipitation. There will even be a change in the form of precipitation. We'll no longer have this usually organised rainfall, but rather quite strong thunderstorms over certain regions.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Merzouga, Morocco – 2 October 2024
5. Various drone shots of flooding in the Sahara
STORYLINE:
Water rushing between the sand dunes of southern Morocco: the surreal image left by the heavy rains that fell in August and September have given a different face to the Moroccan Sahara, better known for its frequent droughts.

According to experts, southern Morocco is not usually affected by rainfall from the Inter Tropical Front, which usually affects the Malian and Mauritanian Sahara.

But this year rains have affected the desert regions of the Moroccan Sahara, leaving the desert region awash with floodwater.

Houssine Youabeb, from Morocco's General Directorate of Meteorology, says it has been at least 30 years since this much rain has fallen in such a short space of time.

According to Youabeb, NASA satellites have even detected the presence of water in the famous Lake Iriqui between the Zagora and Tata regions, which had been dry for 50 years.

But he said the presence of water in the Sahara could profoundly alter weather forecasts in the future.

“We'll no longer have this usually organised rainfall, but rather quite strong thunderstorms over certain regions,” he told The Associated Press.

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