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For the first time in half a century, this immense desert located in North Africa finds itself submerged by water. Discover the impressive images of this phenomenon.
You might think you’re seeing images from a movie, but they are very real. The torrential rains that fell in southeastern Morocco in September completely transformed the landscape of the largest desert in the world. This hasn’t happened in almost 50 years.
“The mountainous relief of these regions facilitated the rapid accumulation of water in the valleys and basins, which led to a rapid rise in rivers and ravines,” writes the Moroccan information site Hespress. NASA satellite images even show that Lake Iriqui, although dry for half a century, has started to fill again.
The equivalent of a year’s worth of rain in 48 hours
In Morocco, record rainfall was recorded in the south of the country with up to more than 200 millimeters of water in just 48 hours in some regions. The equivalent of a year’s worth of rain in the space of two days. Thanks to these rains, called “extra-tropical storms” by meteorologists, the large water tables of the desert were able to be filled. These aquifers are necessary for the water supply of the communities that inhabit the Sahara.
A total of 18 people lost their lives in the floods that hit Morocco in September.
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