For all survivors of these torrential rains

It all started on Monday... I was trying to get to an appointment with the Ophtalmologist when I sensed we were in for a "big one" this week. The winds at the Twin Center were a bad omen: palm trees were falling, branches from trees were dropping in front of me; umbrellas were upside down and people were walking diagonally, not upright. The rain was dropping as if darts were hitting on my face; I checked Spanish television to check out if this weather was going to pass, but it showed heavy storms, so I braced for what we saw yesterday. I stayed at home, yet my husband experienced the worst of floodings and weather hazards in Sidi Maarouf. 2m showed tragedy all over the place, from Rabat to Casablanca, and as I drove to campus this morning, I couldn't but stare at a huge hole across the main road to UIC and the detours we need to do in order to get there.

Reuters have some of the story of this tragedy, but you need to see what happened in person in order to sense what people have gone through.


Heavy rain and floods kill 30 in Morocco
Tue Nov 30, 2010 5:18pm GMT

RABAT (Reuters) - At least 30 people have been killed in Morocco after heavy rain and floods, official sources said on Tuesday.

The official MAP news agency said 24 people died when a bus carrying them was swept away by a flooding river in the Atlantic coastal town of Bouznika, south of the capital Rabat.

Four people, including three from the same family, died when heavy rain brought down their homes near the central city of Khenifra and in Sale, near Rabat, MAP said.

A young girl drowned on Tuesday in Tiflet, east of Rabat, when she was swept away while trying to cross a bridge. In the north, one man drowned and rescue services were looking for seven other people swept away by a river in flood.

In Casablanca, schools were ordered to shut on Tuesday after Morocco's biggest city and business centre received a record 18 cm (7 inches) of rain overnight.

The head of Morocco's state-run weather service, Abdellah Masqat, told 2M television the heavy rain would continue until Thursday.

News footage from state television station Al-Maghribia showed suburbs of Casablanca submerged.

Flag carrier Royal Air Maroc said flights were disrupted from the country's main airport in Casablanca because flooding on highways and railway tracks prevented some passengers reaching the airport.

In the capital Rabat, people formed long queues in front of a rare working ATM machine after communication systems of some banks were put out of action.

"The lines are down because of the rain. We can't process any operation for the moment," said an employee at a branch of Attijariwafa Bank in downtown Rabat.

© Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved

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