Sandstorm and Five District Offices Closure in Sistan
Offices in Zabol, Hamoun, Hirmand, Zahedan, and Nimruz have been closed. Patients, elderly people, and children have been asked not to go outdoors. Hundreds of people have suffered respiratory and eye complications. Wind speed in Zabol has reached 108 kilometers per hour.
The Sistan sandstorm has caused hundreds of residents of northern districts to suffer respiratory, eye, and heart complications. The Director General of Crisis Management of Sistan and Baluchestan says that on Monday, August 21, 105 residents of Zabol, Zahedan, Hamoun, Hirmand, and Nimruz districts were hospitalized due to such complications. Of these, 26 people were admitted to hospitals.
The storm began on Saturday, August 19, and the Crisis Management Office of the Provincial Governor’s Office reported 465 victims on that day.
The provincial meteorological organization has also asked patients, the elderly, and children to stay indoors as much as possible. The organization predicts that dust particle concentration will increase with the intensification of 120-day winds and the storm will continue until mid-next week. Wind speed in Zabol has reached 108 kilometers per hour and horizontal visibility at the airport has reduced to 1,500 meters.
According to Mehr News Agency, Abdolrahman Shahnwazi, Director General of Crisis Management of Sistan and Baluchestan, says: “All service-providing offices such as emergency services and medical centers will remain open.”
Rasoul Rashki, CEO of the Red Crescent Society of Sistan and Baluchestan, also reported the distribution of 12,000 masks among storm-affected people. The head of Zabol’s meteorological office says that horizontal visibility has also decreased on the Zabol-Zahedan and Zabol-Hirmand transport routes, and traffic on these roads must be carried out with utmost care.
The 120-day winds blow in Sistan from late spring to the end of summer. These winds are accompanied by soil erosion and vegetation damage in the region and sometimes last up to 170 days.
Isa Ebrahimzadeh, a faculty member at Sistan and Baluchestan University, told a news agency in September 2016: “In this region, sometimes the intensity of wind gusts is such that agricultural lands and orchards are buried under sand and dirt or turned into flat surfaces within a matter of hours.”
The sandstorm is sweeping through northern districts of the Sistan region while forecasts suggest that the south of the province will face heavy rain and thunderstorms in the coming three days, increasing the possibility of flooding and overflow of seasonal rivers. Accordingly, people have been asked to avoid crossing along streams and seasonal river courses.
Source: DW
