Flash Floods Kill Dozens In Moroccan Surf Town, Just Days After Invitational Surf Celebration
“The worst thing is that tonight and tomorrow are supposed to have worse rains than yesterday.”
“It’s been a lot of emotions,” says Saad Abid, 2x Moroccan surfing champion and founder of the Safi Surf Invitational. “Last week we were celebrating the surf contest in Safi with 15,000 people here over three days. The governor was here, everyone was really happy. And one week later, man, we are mourning the deaths of so many people.”
“The city is completely damaged. There’s actually a swell coming, but there’s no motivation for surfing when you have people who don’t have a place to sleep and who’ve lost their beloved ones.”
So, what happened?
According to Reuters:
“Morocco is experiencing heavy rain and snowfall on the Atlas Mountains following seven years of drought that emptied some of its main reservoirs. At least 37 people were killed in flash floods triggered by torrential rains on Sunday in Morocco’s coastal province of Safi, 330 kilometres (205 miles) south of the capital Rabat. Fourteen people were receiving medical care after the floods. One hour of heavy rain was enough to flood homes and shops in the old town of Safi, sweeping away cars and cutting off many roads in surrounding areas, as rescue efforts continued.”
Saad explains further.
“It took only an hour or two to cause all this,” he says. “Safi suffered the most in the region because it has really narrow streets and everyone has their shops open and it came in one shot. It was horrific to see this amount of water going into the city.
“It’s crazy, because we’re in a big drought, and we have been for a long time. I’m very involved in environmental protection, and it’s obvious that with climate change everything is going to be more extreme. The droughts are going to be more extreme and the rain is going to be more extreme. Now we’re seeing the effects, even if there are some people who don’t want to believe in climate change.
“The worst thing is that tonight and tomorrow are supposed to have worse rains than yesterday,” he continues.
Saad has created a crowdfunding campaign, which you can donate to here.
“It won’t be able to solve everything, but if everyone does his part, I think we can move forward,” he offers.
Because Safi home to one of the heaviest, most recognizable waves in Morocco, Saad see surf tourism as the path forward for repair and future development in the port town.
“Right now, Safi is not a tourist city, it’s mainly just factories,” he explains. “But I’d say probably 70% of tourists come for surfing, which is why I hope the international surfing community can play an important role in helping the victims.”
Part of his plan to put the North Moroccan port town on the international tourism menu is through facilitating events like the annual Safi Surf Invitational, an event which ran last week for the second time ever.
“I’m the creator and organizer of the event,’ he explains. “I started in 2023, but I’ve been talking with potential sponsors since 2015, largely with no success. My first presentation file was sent to sponsors in 2014, and I never got any positive reply because surfing was seen as a hobby. But when Ramzi made the CT and qualified for the Olympics, a lot of things changed in Morocco in terms of the perception of surfing. Now sponsors want to help out with the event.
“With sponsors like OCP and help from local authorities, we’ve been able to run an event, and we basically donated 4,000 Euros worth of surfing and bodyboarding equipment to a local NGO. We do beach cleanups, and take underprivileged and handicapped kids surfing too.”
Saad says he lost money in the first and second edition of the event, but has faith in his long-term vision.
“I want to create something special here in Safi. It has so much potential to be an incredible hub of Moroccan surfing. In terms of quality and perfection of the waves, you could easily put a CT event on it,” he finishes. “It was like J-Bay when we ran last week.”
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