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Algeria Braces for Heavy Storms as Orange Alerts Cover 18 Wilayas

4 November 2026 · Algeria Now

Algeria Braces for Heavy Storms as Orange Alerts Cover 18 Wilayas — Photo : Susanne Nilsson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

ALGIERS — Algeria's national meteorological office has placed 18 wilayas under an orange, level-2 alert for heavy thunderstorms, with rainfall that could locally exceed 50 millimetres before the bulletin expires at 3 a.m. on Thursday.

The first group covers Tlemcen, Sidi Bel Abbès, Saïda, Tiaret, Mascara, El Naama, El Bayadh, Béchar, Laghouat, Djelfa and M'Sila. There, 20 to 40 millimetres are expected, and locally 50 millimetres or more. A second group, made up of Ouled Djellal, El Meghaier, Biskra, Khenchela, Tébessa, Batna and Oum El Bouaghi, can expect 20 to 30 millimetres, locally 40 or more. Hail was also forecast on Tuesday for the western highlands, from Tlemcen to Béchar.

A lower-level warning for heavy rain applies on Wednesday to roughly 30 further provinces, including Algiers, Oran, Blida, Constantine, Annaba, Sétif, Béjaïa, Ouargla and El Oued. The bulletin gives no rainfall totals for them.

Autumn is when Algeria's first major storms usually arrive, often after long dry spells that leave the ground hard and unable to absorb water. Across the steppe and along the edge of the Sahara, dry riverbeds known as oueds can fill within minutes, and the country carries a painful memory of sudden floods, notably the one that struck the Bab El Oued district of Algiers in November 2001.

For that reason, civil protection services and local authorities routinely urge residents to avoid crossing flooded roads and oueds, to keep away from low-lying areas and to postpone non-essential journeys while an alert lasts. Many of the provinces concerned, such as Tiaret, Djelfa and Laghouat, sit on high plateaus where heavy rain can quickly make tracks and rural roads impassable.

The meteorological office updates its special bulletins as conditions evolve, and residents are encouraged to follow the latest versions.

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