More than 50,000 people, almost half the population of the northwestern city of Ksar el-Kebir, have been evacuated in Morocco as floods caused by weeks of heavy rains threatened to inundate the city, Reuters reported, citing Moroccan media.
Authorities have set up shelters and temporary camps and have banned access to Ksar el-Kebir because the water level of the Loukos River has risen and has already flooded several neighborhoods. Only people are allowed to leave the city, and some parts of it have been cut off from electricity and schools have been ordered to remain closed until Saturday.
Officials said the flooding was partly caused by the release of water from the nearby Oued Mahazin dam after it reached full capacity.
Ksar el-Kebir is about 190 kilometers north of the Moroccan capital Rabat.
The army has deployed rescue teams, trucks, equipment and medical teams to assist in evacuation and rescue operations, and buses have evacuated people from the city.
State television showed a helicopter rescuing four people stranded by rising waters on the Oued Ouerha river in nearby Ouazane province.
Further south, rising levels of the Sebou river prompted authorities to evacuate several residents the village of Sidi Kassem and to strengthen the river banks with sandbags and barriers.