The mood in the ramshackle settlements, product of Africa's longest-running territorial dispute, was defiant.

"I am happy because I am alive," said Baghia Salem, 27, breastfeeding her two-month-old daughter inside a newly donated refugee tent.

"I do not care about the flood: It happens. We will overcome the situation soon. But we do need humanitarian aid."

According to the World Food Programme, 95 percent of the refugees are dependent on food aid even in normal times, and serious food shortages often occur because of a lack of funds.

In addition, a limited diet over decades has left many malnourished. The basic WFP food package does not include meat, vegetables or fruit. It contains flour, lentils, vegetable oil, salt and sugar.

Morocco seized Western Sahara after former colonial power Spain withdrew in 1975, waging a low-intensity guerrilla war with the Polisario Front until the United Nations brokered a ceasefire in 1991 and sent in peacekeepers.

The UN-mediated truce came with the pledge of a referendum on Western Sahara, but Morocco has refused to allow a vote on self-determination. Polisario's principal backer is Algeria.

The refugees now live in five camps near the border with the Moroccan-controlled territory.

Standing outside the rubble of a makeshift school, Ahmed Mohamed, 14, said restarting education in the camps would require outside help. "We desperately need support and aid from the international community," he said.

Mohamed's headmaster, Hamad Yahya, in charge of 500 pupils and 52 teachers, said he needed "a rapid solution" to restart classes.

"Obviously what I need is educative stuff such as books, pens, and bags," he said.

The UN refugee agency is currently organising an airlift of tents, blankets, jerry cans, mattresses and plastic sheeting.

Malia Bent Ali, a woman who lost her home and possessions, thanked Algerian authorities and Spanish humanitarian aid groups for rushing in aid. But she was worried about the cold: Temperatures in the desert can plunge to freezing in the early morning.