Safi's deadly floods this week mirror centuries of historical accounts describing torrents repeatedly entering the old medina through Bab Chaaba, destroying homes, shops, and lives. Accounts from the 1600s to the early 1900s record nearly identical scenes of devastation, showing that the same vulnerable point of the city has long been the epicenter of its worst disasters. DR ‹ › Safi was hit hard this past weekend by severe weather conditions. Heavy and sudden flash floods swept through the ancient medina and surrounding neighborhoods, claiming the lives of 37 people and injuring dozens more. Material losses were considerable: cars swept away, homes submerged, and goods destroyed inside and outside flooded shops. These images, now circulating globally through videos, media, and social platforms, echo scenes described centuries ago in manuscripts written by Safi's own scholars. Moroccan chronicles record repeated floods submerging the medina as early as the 1600s, striking the same vulnerable point: Bab Chaaba, one of the historic gates of the old city, located by the Oued Chaaba that runs alongside the ramparts. «The old medina lies directly along the valley leading to the ocean, it has been exposed to the violent torrents that 'have often inflicted damage upon property and lives'», wrote theologian and chronicler Mohamed Kanouni Abdi in «Asfi and its surroundings, past and present». Across several centuries, flood after flood entered Safi through Bab Chaaba, forming one of the richest historical records of environmental disaster on Morocco's Atlantic coast. A history of floods In 1647, Kanouni recounts that a sudden flood struck the city. After the last evening prayer, «water poured into the houses of the people of Safi and its surroundings» and «the great flood entered through Bab Chaaba, driving people back in terror as cries and shouts erupted», he recounts in another book on Safi. The water rose over the houses «like sea waves», destroying the sea-facing wall. It «destroyed the shops of the rope-makers, then the perfumers, then the leatherworkers and cobblers, the mills, and the houses near the market, everything in its path». The torrent carved «a massive trench from Bab Chaaba to the sea», a feature that remained visible until 1650, he added. Another devastating flood hit in 1790. A violent storm struck at night, and the flood «entered Safi while the people were asleep». It again «broke through Bab Chaaba, destroyed some shops, tore out their doors, and ruined the goods inside». More than 200 «women and men» died in their homes and in Funduq al-Qaʿa, Kanouni writes. Days later, a second wave destroyed even more homes and shops, with severe losses in livestock and property. In 1803, heavy rain once more sent torrents through Bab Chaaba. The flood «destroyed their doors and damaged what they contained of goods, money, and furnishings». It carved yet another trench, entered the Great Mosque from Derb al-Qaws, reached the madrasa gate, and «dragged the marble slab that had been there to the sea». A major flood followed in January 1826. It «destroyed shops, swept away any remaining doors, and ruined the goods inside», reaching the Great Mosque, the Nasiriyya Zawiya, the Boujartila hammam, and surrounding quarters. In January 1855, torrential rain caused another destructive overflow. It «destroyed the shops of the potters, tanners, shoemakers, and rope-makers», ruining goods and grains inside them. Water accumulated at Bab al-Baḥr, and «people were forced to cross it in boats», «The financial losses were enormous», Kanouni wrote. Bab Chaaba, recurring losses By 1902, one of the most catastrophic floods ever recorded in Safi occurred, accoridng to Kanouni's account. Heavy rain collected by the Portuguese wall outside Bab Chaaba until «the mentioned wall collapsed», unleashing water through the medina. It reached the shrine of Sidi Abd al-Raaman, flooded homes, shops, alleyways, the Great Mosque, the madrasa, the Nasiriyya Zawiya, and the shrine of Lalla Oum Ali in Derb al-Qaws. A contemporary letter described the tragedy bluntly: «Nearly two hundred people of the town and others perished». Survivors appealed for compensation «for each according to the loss, each one bearing witness to what he lost». In 1927, constant rains caused another destructive torrent through Bab Chaaba. It ruined shopfronts, flooded homes, and submerged the Great Mosque, the madrasa, and the Nasiriyya Zawiya for yet another time. Several people drowned, the chronicler wrote, adding «the event was immense and the sight terrible». Oued Chaaba was later widened to reduce the risk of similar disasters, kanouni reported. Safi's long history of flooding shares a single recurring pattern: torrents entering the medina through Bab Chaaba, the very area most devastated in the floods recorded only days ago.
