In addition to deaths from drowning, flooding has significant indirect health effects, including impacts on food production, water supply, ecosystem disruption, outbreaks of infectious diseases and disease vector distribution. The long-term effects of flooding could include post-traumatic stress and population displacement.
In 2010, Morocco experienced an "exceptional" return of rainfall, which caused widespread flooding at the national level, and left considerable human and material damage, mainly in the Gharb region.
This region has experienced the flooding of 135,000 hectares, the displacement of 22,000 inhabitants, cutting off several roads and railroad tracks.
Airborne observations by satellite and on the ground revealed:
The damage per km of road was evaluated at 500 000 MDH[1], those suffered by unit of occupation of the ground (Agriculture, Buildings, Road networks) to 668.17 million MDH from January to March 2010.
The atmospheric conditions were characterized by a very deep and intense cold valley in a warm environment, which caused abundant and continuous rain for several days. Combined with releasing dams threatening to overflow, the Gharb has turned into a closed sea due to overflow and global immersion.
Reverse conditions were established the following year. During this period, the summer heat continued into the late fall of 2015, and even into the winter. And precipitation decreased by more than 51% of the fall rainfall cumulative, compared with the same period of a normal year. A slowdown in economic growth has been felt since December, and continued until the return of rain (and snow!) In mid February 2016.
The meteorological conditions during this period were marked by the succession and persistence of very active planetary crests projected to the northern confines of Western Europe (Christmas heat 2015!), Thus rejecting the negative waves to the east: Algeria, Tunisia, Italy, the Balkans, Anatolia, and even the Middle East.
These and similar events in Maghreb region, should be considered as reference laboratory cases for the simulation of future situations, and integration into development plans in the future.
The management analysis of these events showed deficiencies in the consideration of flood risks in the management plans, in the mapping of high-risk areas and in the definition of a comprehensive and coordinated strategy for flood prevention and control.
This management plan should go through two basic steps:
- Pre-disaster plans: Prevention
- Early warning systems
- Risk Mitigation Plans
- Community management policies
- Awareness policies and dissemination of the culture of "Risk Management" among the population and the institutions
- Post-disaster management plans
- Response and evacuation plans
- Action to minimize the damage
- risk transfer mechanisms: insurance
- Reconstruction / restarting plans for the economy
Because of these shortcomings, the management plan could not be executed properly, which caused several disfunctions at several levels.
[1] 1 USD = 9.60048 MAD
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