On Sunday, Moroccan authorities reported that four individuals had perished and 14 others were unaccounted for due to flooding triggered by an 'exceptional' climatic event in southern regions. A local official informed AFP that since heavy rains commenced on Friday in the province of Tata, approximately 740 kilometers south of Rabat, 'four people have died and 14 have gone missing,' with the possibility of the death toll increasing. The official, who chose to remain anonymous, stated that 'eight houses were washed away by floods in some valleys' near Tamanart, a rural area within the Tata region. Typically arid areas in southern Morocco and Algeria have been inundated by floods resulting from substantial rainfall since Friday, according to officials speaking to AFP on Sunday. Lhoussaine Youabd, the spokesman for the Moroccan General Directorate of Meteorology, explained to AFP that the areas were affected 'by an extremely unstable tropical air mass,' which 'led to the formation of unstable and violent clouds' causing significant rainfall. Youabd characterized the phenomenon as 'exceptional,' noting that the regions experienced 'heavy thunderstorms and significant rainfall, leading to river flooding' as 'humid tropical air masses moved northward.' Consequently, the Ouarzazate region received 47 millimeters of water in three hours, while Tagounite, near the Algerian border, recorded approximately 170 millimeters, according to the Moroccan weather service. The heavy rains struck regions of Morocco that have been grappling with drought for at least six years. In neighboring Algeria, authorities confirmed one death and one missing person due to flooding in the south. Algerian civil defence reported that an unnamed young girl was swept away by the waters in Illizi, in the far south, and another individual trapped in a vehicle remained missing. Additionally, they stated that several families had been rescued from flooded rivers, primarily in Illizi and Bechar, also in the south. Videos circulating on social media depicted some areas in the Sahara desert being drenched. In Morocco's Ouarzazate, entire streets were flooded. 'We haven't seen such rain for about 10 years,' remarked Omar Gana, a local resident, to AFP. Morocco has been enduring severe water stress following six consecutive years of drought, reducing dam levels to less than 28 percent of capacity by the end of August. The rains were accompanied by strong winds, reaching up to 100 kilometers per hour in Ouarzazate and 76 km/h in Marrakesh, where they caused 'an optical phenomenon, giving the sky an orange tint,' according to the General Directorate of Meteorology.