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The evacuation affected nearly half of the city’s population as rising water from the Loukkos River threatened to flood large parts of the area.
Authorities sealed off the city, allowing only outbound movement, while electricity was cut in some neighbourhoods and schools were closed until Saturday.
“The city has become a ghost town,” resident Hicham Ajttou told Reuters by phone.
“All markets and shops are closed, and most residents have either left voluntarily or were evacuated.”
Officials said shelters and temporary camps were set up for displaced residents.
Flooding worsened after water was released from the nearby Oued Makhazine dam, which had reached full capacity. Ksar el-Kebir is located about 190 kilometres north of Rabat.
Ajttou said he moved his family to Tangier last week and later returned to help with relief efforts.
“The question that worries us is what comes next. The dam is full, and we don’t know how long this situation will last,” he added.
The Moroccan army has deployed rescue teams, trucks, medical staff, and equipment to support evacuation and rescue operations.
Residents were taken out of the city on buses. State television Al Oula showed a helicopter rescuing four people trapped by rising water in the Oued Ouargha area of Ouezzane province.
In other parts of the country, flooding from the Sebou River forced residents to evacuate in Sidi Kacem, where authorities reinforced riverbanks with sandbags and barriers.
The heavy rainfall has ended a seven-year drought in Morocco, which previously pushed the country to invest heavily in desalination projects.
Official data shows the national dam-filling rate is now close to 62%, with several major reservoirs at full capacity.
