At least four dead as floods sweep across Tunisia

At least four people were killed on Tuesday as floods swept across Tunisia during the worst torrential rain for more than 70 years in some regions, and there were fears the death toll could rise, authorities said.

The cloudbursts inundated streets, submerged vehicles and disrupted daily life in multiple governorates (provinces) of the North African country, with emergency services struggling to respond to the scale of the flooding.

Civil protection teams said several areas were cut off by rising waters, particularly in low-lying neighbourhoods.

Schools were closed in the capital Tunis and in the towns of Nabeul, Sousse and Beja, and court sessions were suspended and public and private transport crippled in some districts.

Videos shared on social media showed fast-moving floods sweeping debris through residential streets, with seawater inundating neighbourhoods in the coastal town of Menzel Temime.

Malek Klibi is a resident of Tunis and he said "Tunisia rarely experiences such periods of torrential rain. Forgive me for speaking French, but every time this phenomenon occurs, when you look back you find the drains - which are supposed to be cleaned every year so that water can flow and these floods do not happen - they are dirty (blocked)."

Another resident, Mohamed Ghdira said he welcomes the rain. 

"We need it for dams and for everything, but the infrastructure, as usual, is always the same problem," he said.

"There are well known areas that have not been properly taken care of. You look at the situation and even someone who just wants to go to work, go home, or carry out daily activities ends up completely blocked, so we can’t work, and there is a lot of damage to our economy," he added.

Meteorological officials said the rainfall levels in some regions were the heaviest recorded since 1950.

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tunisia Floods Severe Weather Torrential Rains North Africa Climate Impact Emergency Services Beja