Devastating floods in Iran; increasing casualties and continuing warnings

Tehran is on high alert. Flood warnings have been issued in four provinces and islands in the Persian Gulf. The number of flood victims has risen to at least 28. The Iranian president has visited the provinces of Golestan and Mazandaran.

While the possibility of flooding has put relief forces in Tehran on “full alert,” other parts of Iran have been hit by heavy rains and human casualties. In Gomishan, a city in Golestan province, a boat carrying 24 people capsized, killing at least five people.

Alireza Kamal Gharibi, head of the Golestan Province Medical Emergencies Department, confirmed in an interview with Tasnim News Agency on Wednesday, March 27, that five bodies of the boat's passengers had been found, and said that another body had been discovered but had not yet been handed over to the institution.

Unprecedented rainfall in recent days has flooded many areas of Golestan Province, causing many casualties and damages. The governor of Aqqala, one of the cities in Golestan Province, announced on April 22 that 70 percent of the city was flooded and 21 surrounding villages were surrounded by water.

Heavy rain and flooding in recent days have caused heavy casualties and damage in various regions of Iran. In Shiraz, the capital of Fars Province, 19 people lost their lives and more than 100 were injured in the flooding.

According to Morteza Salimi, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society's relief and rescue organization, 19 people have died in Shiraz, one in Kermanshah, one in Lorestan, one in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, and one in Khuzestan due to flooding in the past two days. This brings the death toll from the recent floods in Iran to at least 28, including those killed in the capsized boat.

This is while Ahmad Shojaei, the head of Iran's forensic medicine, announced yesterday that two people in Golestan province and five people in Mazandaran province had died in the flood, putting the total number of deaths at 25. Pirhossein Kolivand, head of Iran's Emergency Organization, also put the number of deaths in the flood in Shiraz at 21.

Continued rainfall in various places

Ahad Vazvi, Director General of Forecasting and Early Warning at the Iranian Meteorological Organization, announced on Wednesday that rainfall will continue in various parts of the country, saying: "Today, there will be heavy rain in Hormozgan province and the Persian Gulf islands, South Khorasan, North Khorasan, and the southern parts of Kerman and Razavi Khorasan, and tomorrow in the south and northeast of Razavi Khorasan, and north of South Khorasan."

This official from the Iranian Meteorological Organization added in an interview with ISNA: "Today, a precipitation system in areas of the northeast, east, and southeast of the country will cause heavy rain, sometimes with thunderstorms and temporary strong winds. This system will also cause hail in some susceptible areas and scattered rain and snow in the slopes and highlands of the central Alborz and northwest of the country."

Ahad Vazgazi continued: "Tomorrow (Thursday, April 28), with the arrival of another wave in the western, central, northeastern, and eastern half of the country, rain is expected, sometimes with thunderstorms and temporary strong winds, and snowfall is expected in cold and high-altitude areas. Also, scattered showers, sometimes with thunderstorms and strong winds, are not far off in some areas of the southeastern part of the country."

The Director General of Forecasting and Early Warning at the Meteorological Organization also said: "The day after tomorrow (Friday, April 29), the precipitation system will gradually leave the northeast of the country, and from late this day, rainfall will begin again in the northwest of the country and the western coast of the Caspian Sea."

This expert from the Meteorological Organization stated that "the winds will be strong in the provinces of Semnan, Qom, and south of Tehran today," adding: "Strong winds with the possibility of falling dust and reduced air quality are expected today and tomorrow in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, east of Kerman, and south of South Khorasan."

Ahad Vazfi also said about Tehran's weather conditions: "It is predicted that Tehran will experience strong winds and a gradual decrease in clouds today at some hours."

The governor of Tehran had previously said that the Iranian capital's relief forces are on full alert to deal with possible flooding in the metropolis.

The Director General of Forecasting and Early Warning of the Iranian Meteorological Organization has said that tomorrow, Thursday, "the weather in Tehran will be partly cloudy and in some hours there will be increasing clouds, sometimes showers of rain and strong winds."

Flood warning in four provinces and islands of the Persian Gulf

The Iranian Meteorological Organization has warned of flooding in several provinces and regions of the country today, Wednesday, and has predicted "rain, lightning, flooding of roads and overflowing rivers" in the provinces of Hormozgan, Kerman, Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan, and the Persian Gulf islands.

Kobra Rafiei, an expert at the Iranian Meteorological Organization, also told the state news agency IRNA that "due to the torrential rainfall, the possibility of flooding of public roads, flooding, and overflowing rivers in some parts of the country is not far-fetched."

According to Ms. Rafiei: "This possibility exists in areas such as Hormozgan, southern Kerman, the Persian Gulf islands, and some parts of Razavi and Northern Khorasan, where rainfall is more intense today."

This expert from the Meteorological Organization emphasized that "strong winds are predicted in the provinces of Semnan, Qom, and south of Tehran today," and said: "On Wednesday and Thursday, we will have the same conditions in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, east of Kerman, and south of Khorasan Razavi, and there is a possibility of dust rising and a decrease in air quality in these areas."

Heavy damage and ongoing rescue operations

Rescue forces are still on alert in various flood-affected parts of Iran. Rescue and assistance operations for flood victims continued in Shiraz yesterday. Numerous reports of heavy damage have been published in various parts of Iran.

Yesterday, heavy rain and flooding blocked the international transit route between Tehran and Mashhad. Strong winds cut off electricity in some villages in Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, and the overflowing rivers of the province submerged 17 main and secondary bridges. A village in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad was completely submerged. The Bashar Yasuj River overflowed in an unprecedented manner, and a 15-year-old teenager fell victim to the seasonal flooding of the Shush River in Basht County. About 100 residential houses in Aligudarz were destroyed, and a 35-year-old young man lost his life under the rubble. Many villages in Aligudarz were also surrounded by water, and the communication routes of 290 villages in the region were cut off.

The flood has also caused extensive damage to roads and bridges in Isfahan. Local officials are reporting the possibility of flash flooding in the city. The banks of the Zayandeh River were also evacuated yesterday. There have also been reports of the possibility of flooding in Khuzestan. The governor of Khuzestan ordered the evacuation of villages that are at risk of flooding. The Dez River overflowed in Dezful County, causing extensive damage to the city's tourism infrastructure.

Two bridges in Lorestan were completely destroyed, and reports of a “critical situation” were published in the province. Flood warnings were issued in Kermanshah. Ilam province suffered heavy damage, and the streets of Sanandaj were also struggling with severe flooding.

These are just a very small part of the damage caused by the recent floods in more than 20 provinces of Iran. The extent of this damage is not yet fully known. However, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has asked his first vice president, Sahag Jahangiri, to prepare a final estimate of the extent of the damage caused by the recent floods by today's cabinet meeting.

Formation of a “Roots-Finding Committee” for the Flood and Rouhani’s Trip to Golestan and Mazandaran

Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, head of Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization, announced on Wednesday the payment of “710 billion tomans in grant aid” to flood victims. “This aid will be paid in the form of 580 billion tomans in current expenses and 130 billion tomans in the development sector,” Nobakht said, according to Tasnim.

This is despite the fact that, according to local officials in Kermanshah, the amount of flood damage to the city's infrastructure alone was 376 billion Tomans.

Today, at the first meeting of the government council in 2019, Hassan Rouhani, emphasizing that "the government will compensate for the losses of all those who have been affected by the recent events with all its means and capabilities," announced the issuance of instructions to form a "National Committee for Flood Investigation to take short-term and long-term measures in response to this natural disaster."

The Iranian President said: "Although in previous years we have sometimes witnessed flooding in some provinces, it is perhaps unprecedented or rare for about 25 of the country's 31 provinces, and on some days all provinces, to be affected by it at once. Such an event would reduce the provision of aid from one province to a neighboring province."

Rouhani added: "This year's conditions are apparently humid, and instead of the 10 years we witnessed drought, the amount of precipitation will increase significantly in humid conditions."

Hassan Rouhani noted: "Today, I will announce the formation of a national committee to investigate and find the root cause of the flood so that, like the good report prepared regarding the Plasco incident, a report on short-term and long-term measures will be prepared in this regard, and we will do something so that if there is divine mercy in the coming months and years, we can absorb it."

The Iranian government delegation was scheduled to decide today on “how to compensate for the damages and rebuild the damaged areas.” Hassan Rouhani also traveled to Golestan and Mazandaran provinces on Wednesday to “closely monitor the process of providing assistance to the flood victims.”

Source: DW