If the south of the country is accustomed to extreme temperatures, the north is won in turn. Sales of air conditioners are exploding, worsening electricity supply problems.
After a journey of 2,400 km and three days of a very long road interspersed with short stops to sleep for a few hours and regain strength, Slimane has just landed from Tindouf, in the extreme south-west of Algeria. This is where this agricultural engineer has settled with his family for years.
Still under the influence of fatigue, Slimane is shocked to see that the temperatures of his small village in Basse Kabylie have aligned with those of the great south. “I still prefer Tindouf. There at least, it’s hot but it’s dry. There’s not all that damn humidity! he grumbles. And for good reason, for almost a week now, temperatures in the north of the country have fluctuated between 44 and 50 degrees, day and night. Never seen.
Sahara colors
A real furnace. The weather warning bulletins follow and resemble each other, oscillating between red and orange. Each peak brings a new record. “This heat wave is due to the rise of hot air masses coming from the south and which are sometimes blocked at the level of the coastal regions. This is an extreme phenomenon that will persist for the next few days, ”explains Said Chalmouni, engineer at the National Meteorological Office (ONM).
The sirocco, this burning breath of the desert, rarely weakens. Dust and sand drape the sky and all the landscapes in the colors of the Sahara. Every morning, motorists must clean their vehicles of the thin layer of ocher sand that has deposited there.
Heat dome
Humans are not the only ones to suffer from this unusual heat, wild animals too. Jackal, wild boar, stork, vulture, snake and other species were filmed in very bad shape, or staggering under the effect of the temperature. Several videos of animals saved from certain death by generous strangers who shared their bottle of water with them have caused a stir on social networks.
After an unusually mild and rainy month of June, Algeria therefore found itself, at the beginning of July, imprisoned under a stifling dome of heat, as meteorologists call it. Even Algiers, a coastal city with a usually temperate climate, has been included in the list of the hottest cities in the world, as established by the Eldorado Weather site, which lists daily the localities of the globe where it is not good to find oneself under the fiery rays of the sun. A ranking to which several Algerian cities such as Tindouf, Adrar, In-Salah, Bouira, Chlef or Biskra have already subscribed. “Here is at least one area where we are ranked among the first in the world”, ironically Aïssa on her Facebook page.
It’s best just to laugh
On social networks, everyone goes there for their photo of photos of car dashboards displaying mind-blowing temperatures. “It’s dashboard day! says the same Aïssa, still as sarcastic. Better to laugh than cry. Indeed, nothing better than the quirky humor of the Algerians to play down a painful situation.
During the latest floods that affected several regions of the country in June, groups of young people had found nothing better than to engage in diving competitions in the courtyards of buildings transformed into swimming pools. A young man was even filmed in a canoe-kayak paddling furiously in the middle of a national road that the torrential rains had transformed into a torrent. Today, with the heat wave, citizens film themselves making an omelet with a frying pan simply placed on the hood of their car.
Power grid saturated
More seriously, each heat wave brings its share of forest fires and each fire revives fears and painful memories of the mega-fires of summer 2021 which left dozens dead. However, this year, Algeria has at least one water bomber acquired from the Russians while the authorities claim to have chartered several others and mobilized more than 765 Civil Protection intervention units as well as 65 mobile columns. , 650 fire-fighting trucks and 6 helicopters belonging to the flying group of Civil Protection.
In addition to infernal temperatures, power cuts and voltage drops have become recurrent throughout the national territory, with the electricity network saturated. Without admitting it publicly, Sonelgaz, the historical operator of electricity and gas in Algeria, is obliged to resort to load shedding. Demand greatly exceeds supply: records for electrical energy consumption were recorded on July 9 with 17,508 MW, 17,905 MW on the 10th and 18,377 MW the following day.
Survival aids
Blame it on air conditioners that have become essential survival aids in urban areas. Appliance stores are overrun and installers are working tirelessly. It takes nearly 70,000 dinars (about 460 euros) for a 2,600 W but despite their price, many households are bleeding to afford one. “It’s no longer a luxury. It’s essential, ”says Azzedine, manager of a small convenience store busy installing his own.
Another accessory that has become indispensable for many citizens: the water tank on the roof of the house or on the balcony. In the absence of space, it is placed on the sidewalk to serve as a water reserve. With its electric pump and its booster to bring the water upstairs, it takes an average of 60,000 dinars. Again, there is no question of skimping on the expense, it is about survival in a country hit hard by drought, water stress and global warming.
Water once a week
Rationed in almost all localities of the country, it is not every day that water flows from the tap. In many cities, citizens consider themselves privileged to have water once a week. It is therefore imperative to make reservations. These shortages have created a new job: itinerant water salesman. It is necessary to have a small truck and cisterns to deliver the thirsty consumers and sell the water at the rate of 20 dinars per 10-liter container.
According to the latest news, the heat wave is expected to last all week, further testing the legendary patience of Algerians and their keen sense of derision, which has some jokers on Facebook saying: “Someone must have forgotten to close the door from hell… ”
