Algeria: rain fell after months of drought, causing extensive damage

At least eight people died due to bad weather and 122 families had to be relocated following the collapse of their homes.

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Algeria is seeing the specter of water stress recede. Between the end of May and the beginning of June, after months of drought, the rain finally fell. But the deliverance has a bitter taste: according to the report communicated by the civil protection, at least eight people died because of the bad weather. Significant material damage was also recorded, particularly in Tipaza, about sixty kilometers west of Algiers, where one hundred and twenty-two families were relocated following the collapse of their homes.

“It’s not the rain that kills, but the anarchic constructions near the beds [des fleuves]the fragility of the buildings and the lack of awarenessdespairs Amar, a fifty-year-old from Algiers, a civil servant in a state-owned company. The same scenario repeats itself every year and yet we are never prepared. Our drains [les ouvertures le long des trottoirs servant à évacuer les eaux de ruissellement vers les égouts] are still clogged as if we had learned nothing from previous dramas. »

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Faced with these shortages, the authorities are betting on the development of seawater desalination plants. factories are already operational and 6 others will be commissioned by 2030.

A drinking water supply plan to ration the use of reserves was also introduced in 2021. This device, which limits the use of tap water to a few hours a day, concerns the capital and its surroundings. But other wilayas (prefectures) have been affected by recurring cuts.

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