Storm Charles has moved away from Morocco after two days of violent winds and heavy rain that left one man dead, flooded streets and knocked out electricity across large parts of Casablanca, the General Directorate of Meteorology (DGM) confirmed on Friday.
The weather office told Le360 that the Atlantic storm’s influence on the country had ended, although scattered showers could persist in northern regions as the system continued to weaken.
“The low-pressure system is gradually moving away from our country,” the DGM said, following the severe weather that battered several regions on Wednesday and Thursday.
Rain is still expected on Friday in Tangier, the Loukkos, the western Rif and along the western Mediterranean coast. Isolated showers are also possible over the northern and central Atlantic plains and the northwestern Saharan provinces.
Read also : Blackout, traffic chaos, flight diversion: How Casablanca weathered Storm Charles
Conditions should improve across most of the country from Saturday, with only a chance of light rain in the far north. The DGM expects generally more settled weather thereafter, although the extreme northwest may remain unsettled.
The storm brought some of its worst disruption to Casablanca on Wednesday, when a wall at Abdellah Guennoune High School in Salmia collapsed shortly after 6pm, killing one man and seriously injuring another.
Violent winds and thunderstorms also damaged four 225-kilovolt transmission lines supplying the Dar Bouazza and Ouled Haddou substations, cutting electricity to several neighborhoods, including Sidi Belyout, Maârif, Gauthier and Bourgogne.
The National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) said power was restored to all affected supply substations by 8:54pm, nearly four hours after the outage began.
Read also : One dead, another seriously injured as school wall collapses in Casablanca during Storm Charles
Wind speeds reached 107.4 km/h at Casablanca airport, the highest gust recorded during Wednesday’s storm.
Heavy rain also battered the Souss-Massa region, with three weather stations in Agadir-Ida-Ou-Tanane recording more than 100mm between Wednesday and 6am Thursday.
In Tangier, downpours flooded streets in Bni Makada and Riad Tetouan, leaving several roads under water.
Schools were closed as a precaution in 10 provinces and prefectures, with suspensions extended on Thursday in Tetouan, Al Hoceima, Chefchaouen, Larache, Ouezzane, Fahs-Anjra and M’diq-Fnideq. Sidi Bennour was also added to the list.
The wall of Abdellah Guennoune High School in the Salmia neighborhood collapsed shortly after 18:00 on Wednesday (K.Essalak/Le360)
The weather disrupted air and road travel. An Air France flight from Paris to Casablanca was diverted to Rabat-Salé after abandoning its approach to Mohammed V Airport.
On Thursday, flooding forced the closure of the road between Guelmim and Assa near Douar Tarkamit.
The DGM expects rainfall to ease further from Saturday, although showers remain possible in the country’s far north.
