A downpour flooded the Sahara Desert

Some areas of the Sahara Desert received more rainfall in two days in September than the annual average.

“It’s been 30–50 years since there has been so much rainfall in such a short period of time,” said Hussine Juabeb, a spokesman for Morocco’s General Directorate of Meteorology.

The flooding has killed 20 people in Morocco and Algeria. The rainfall has also damaged farmers’ crops.

According to locals, there has not been such heavy rainfall for half a century. The desert in southeastern Morocco is one of the driest places in the world.

The Moroccan government said the rainfall over two days exceeded the annual average in several areas that receive less than 250 millimeters a year.

Tagounit, a village about 450 kilometers south of the capital Rabat, recorded more than 100 millimeters of rain in 24 hours.

The water rushed across the Sahara sands and filled Lake Iriki, which had been dry for 50 years.

The disaster killed more than 20 people in Morocco and Algeria and damaged farmers’ crops, APnews reported.