Storm Leonardo Triggers Mass Evacuations and Flooding Across Spain, Portugal and Morocco

The streets of Ksar El Kebir, a normally busy sugar-industry town in northern Morocco, were largely empty Friday. Mud lines traced halfway up shuttered storefronts. Army trucks rumbled past rows of sandbags stacked along the Loukkos River. Almost everyone who could leave already had.

“Almost everyone left,” said resident Mohamed El Hachimi, who fled with his family when the water began to rise and authorities warned about the nearby Oued Al Makhazine dam. “The fear now is from the dam, which has surpassed its maximum capacity, and the rain is still pouring heavily.”

Hundreds of kilometers to the north, residents of Alcácer do Sal in Portugal were wading through chest-deep water in streets normally filled with tourists. In the mountains of southern Spain, the whitewashed village of Grazalema—famous as the country’s rainiest town—stood nearly deserted after authorities ordered residents out over fears the soaked hillsides could give way.

All three communities are casualties of Storm Leonardo, a powerful North Atlantic weather system that in early February unleashed days of intense rainfall and flooding across southern Spain, Portugal and northwestern Morocco.

The storm, following close on the heels of another major system, has killed at least one person in Portugal, left a girl missing in Spain and forced the evacuation of more than 150,000 people across the region. It has disrupted rail lines, closed schools, damaged crops and even interrupted a presidential election in Portugal—while highlighting how drought-stricken areas can be overwhelmed when extreme rain finally arrives.

Spain’s Andalusia under red alert

In Spain, the heaviest damage has been in Andalusia, where the national meteorological agency issued red alerts—its highest level—for torrential rain and flooding in the provinces of Cádiz, Málaga and Jaén starting Feb. 3.

Rainfall totals climbed rapidly. In parts of Cádiz and Málaga, meters registered more than 200 liters per square meter in 24 hours. In Grazalema, perched in the Sierra de Cádiz and already known as Spain’s wettest village, gauges recorded roughly 650 to 700 millimeters of rain in less than two days, rivaling or exceeding its typical annual total.

By midweek, regional officials said more than 3,000 people had been evacuated from flood-prone areas along rivers and low-lying neighborhoods. As the storm stalled and soils became saturated, that number climbed above 7,000 across Andalusia, according to regional authorities and local media, with entire communities such as Grazalema temporarily emptied.

Rivers including the Guadalete burst their banks, spilling into agricultural valleys and cutting off rural roads. The Andalusian government reported more than 100 roads closed or severely affected. Spain’s rail infrastructure manager halted several lines, including the high-speed AVE link between Málaga and Antequera, because of landslides and submerged track.

Electric utilities reported nearly 3,800 customers without power at the peak of the storm. Classes were suspended across most of the region, with the notable exception of Almería, as officials urged residents to stay home where possible.

Antonio Sanz, the regional minister responsible for interior and emergency management in Andalusia, said several rivers were at red flood level and others at orange, one step below. “We are facing an extraordinary situation in terms of accumulated rainfall,” he told reporters, adding that more evacuations could not be ruled out.

Emergency services were also searching for a person swept away by floodwaters. Authorities said a female resident disappeared after falling into the Turvilla River near the town of Sayalonga in Málaga province while trying to rescue her dog. The dog was later found alive. Firefighters, drones and divers combed the swollen river as weather conditions allowed. Local and national outlets gave differing ages for the missing person, and officials had not publicly clarified her identity.

Spain’s central government reminded employers and workers that under existing labor regulations, people in areas under red weather alerts can adjust or suspend work for safety reasons without losing pay, a measure used increasingly during extreme weather events.

Portugal flooded again—and an election disrupted

For Portugal, Leonardo’s arrival compounded the damage from Storm Kristin, a deadly system that hit in late January, killing at least 11 people and causing billions of euros in losses, including widespread power cuts and infrastructure damage.

As Leonardo’s rain bands passed over already saturated ground, rivers swelled quickly. In Alcácer do Sal, a historic town on the Sado River south of Lisbon, authorities said water reached up to two meters high in parts of the old center. Boats replaced cars on some streets as residents ferried belongings to higher ground.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s surreal,” said resident Maria Cadacha, speaking to television crews as she watched emergency workers move people from flooded buildings. “There are a lot of people here, shopkeepers, homes with damage. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes.”

Civil Protection officials reported thousands of weather-related incidents nationwide—floods, fallen trees and landslides—and said around 200 people had been evacuated from the most threatened areas, with more moved as waters rose. More than 3,000 firefighters, soldiers and other responders were deployed, using dozens of boats for rescues.

At least one person died in Portugal in an incident linked to Leonardo. Authorities said a man in his 60s was killed when floodwaters swept away his car near a dam in Serpa, in the southeastern district of Beja, after he tried to drive through a submerged roadway.

Along the Tagus River, which runs through central Portugal and Lisbon, officials warned of the worst flood threat since 1997. “We are dealing with a very significant hydrological situation,” national Civil Protection commander Mário Silvestre said in a briefing, noting that river defenses were under close watch and some riverside communities had been ordered to evacuate lower floors or relocate entirely.

The government extended a civil state of calamity—a form of emergency status—until at least Feb. 15, citing combined damage from Kristin and Leonardo. It also halted some nonessential public works to free workers and equipment for flood protection and repairs.

The flooding has also affected Portugal’s presidential election. In Alcácer do Sal, authorities postponed voting planned for Sunday and worked with the National Election Commission to find alternative arrangements. Far-right candidate André Ventura called for suspending the election nationwide, arguing that conditions in flood-hit areas made a fair vote impossible. Other candidates and officials said the disruptions, while serious locally, did not justify a national delay.

Morocco’s mass evacuation downstream of an overfull dam

In Morocco, the crisis began several days earlier, as heavy rains at the end of January pounded the country’s north after years of severe drought. Reservoirs, including the large Oued Al Makhazine dam near Ksar El Kebir, filled at a pace water officials described as unprecedented in recent memory.

By the first week of February, the Interior Ministry said the dam had surpassed its designed capacity, forcing operators to release large volumes of water into the Loukkos River to protect the structure. Downstream, floodwaters spread across the Gharb plain, swamping fields and low-lying districts.

The government organized what it described as one of the biggest evacuation operations in Morocco’s history. Early in the week, officials said more than 50,000 people had been moved from risk zones. By Thursday, the Interior Ministry put the number at 143,164 evacuees in northwestern regions, including Larache, Kenitra and Taounate, with Ksar El Kebir particularly affected.

Local authorities estimated that as much as 85% of the town’s residents left, many staying with relatives elsewhere and others in temporary shelters set up by the army and civil protection services. Schools in threatened areas were closed, and electricity was cut to some neighborhoods to prevent electrocution as waters advanced.

The floods caused extensive damage to agriculture in a region that had begun to rebuild after drought. Officials and farmers reported losses of high-value crops including avocados, potatoes and olives, as well as damage to rural roads, rail lines and port facilities along the Atlantic coast. Maritime traffic between Morocco and Spain was disrupted by high seas and damaged infrastructure.

At the same time, water authorities said the heavy rains had significantly improved the country’s water reserves after seven years of below-average rainfall, with reservoirs now holding enough to cover at least a year of national drinking-water needs. Meteorological officials described the precipitation as “exceptional,” saying total rainfall over the preceding six months exceeded the long-term annual average by more than 30%.

Human rights advocates and local groups have urged the government to formally declare disaster areas in the hardest-hit zones, a step that can unlock compensation and insurance payouts. Some residents have questioned whether communities downstream of dams received adequate warning and protection as water releases increased.

A winter of storms in a warming climate

Meteorologists say Storm Leonardo is part of a broader pattern this winter, as a southward-shifted jet stream steered a series of Atlantic low-pressure systems into the western Mediterranean. Warmer ocean temperatures have increased the amount of moisture available to fuel intense rainfall.

Scientists caution that detailed attribution studies are needed to quantify how much climate change influenced any single storm. But they note that a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor, increasing the likelihood of heavy downpours when conditions are favorable. The string of storms hitting Iberia—with Kristin, then Leonardo, and another system named Marta forecast to follow—fits warnings that climate change will make both droughts and deluges more frequent and severe in the region.

For residents from Andalusia to the Tagus Valley to the Loukkos basin, the scientific debate feels abstract compared with the practical questions of when they can go home, whether their houses are safe and how they will pay for repairs.

In Alcácer do Sal, shopkeepers stacked ruined goods on sidewalks, waiting for adjusters to arrive. In Grazalema, evacuees followed river gauges and weather apps from relatives’ houses, watching to see whether the sodden hillsides would hold. In Ksar El Kebir, families in shelters and guest rooms debated when it would be safe to return to streets still marked by the last flood, and what would happen if the next storm tracked south instead of north.