Waterspouts and hailstones pounded the Tunisian capital repeatedly, causing flooding and traffic chaos and cutting electricity and telephone supplies.

On September 17 alone, rainfall in Tunis hit a record 182 millimetres, well surpassing the previous record of 134 millimetres in 1975, the institute said.

According to an official toll seven people died in the floods, but reliable sources said the real figure was higher as other victims died in the country's interior, which also suffered heavy rainfall.

President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali chaired a meeting on Friday of a ministerial committee on the environment to discuss how to deal with the after-effects of the rain.

TERRA.WIRE