Destructive Floods in Iran; Rising Casualties and Continued Warnings
Tehran is on high alert. Flood warnings have been issued for four provinces and the Persian Gulf islands. The death toll from the floods has risen to at least 28 people. Iran’s President has traveled to Golestan and Mazandaran provinces.
While the possibility of floods has placed rescue forces in Tehran on “full alert,” other parts of Iran have been hit by heavy rainfall and loss of life. In Gonbad Kavus, a city in Golestan Province, the capsizing of a boat carrying 24 passengers has killed at least five people.
Alireza Kamal Gharibeh, head of emergency medical services in Golestan Province, confirmed on Wednesday, March 27, in an interview with Tasnim News Agency that five bodies of the boat’s passengers have been found, and said another body has been discovered but has not yet been handed over to the authorities.
Unprecedented rainfall in recent days has submerged many areas of Golestan Province and caused significant casualties and damage. The governor of Aqqala, a city in Golestan Province, reported on March 3 that 70 percent of the city was flooded and 21 surrounding villages were surrounded by water.
Heavy rainfall and flooding in recent days have caused significant loss of life and heavy damage in various parts of Iran. In Shiraz alone, the capital of Fars Province, 19 people died as a result of flooding and over 100 were injured.
According to Morteza Salimi, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society’s relief and rescue organization, in the past two days 19 people in Shiraz, one person in Kermanshah, one person in Lorestan, one person in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, and one person in Khuzestan died as a result of flooding. Thus, the number of deaths from the recent floods in Iran, including those from the capsized boat, has reached at least 28 people.
This comes as Ahmad Shojaehi, head of Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization, reported yesterday of the deaths of two people in Golestan Province and five people in Mazandaran Province due to flooding and put the total number of deaths at 25 people. Pirouz Hanachi, head of Iran’s Emergency Medical Services Organization, also said the death toll in the Shiraz flooding was 21 people.
Rainfall continues in various parts of the country
Ahed Vazifeh, director general of prediction and early warning at Iran’s Meteorological Organization, reported on Wednesday of the continuation of rainfall in various parts of the country and said: “Today 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, north of South Khorasan there will be heavy rain.”
This Iranian Meteorological Organization official added in an interview with ISNA: “Today a rainfall system in parts of the northeast, east and southeast of the country will cause showers, sometimes with thunderstorms and temporary strong winds, and this system in some susceptible areas will cause hail and in the slopes and heights of central Alborz and northwestern parts of the country will cause scattered rain and snow.”
Ahed Vazifeh continued: “Tomorrow (Thursday, April 8), with the arrival of another wave in the western half, center, northeast and east of the country, rainfall is expected, sometimes with thunderstorms and temporary strong winds and in cold and elevated areas snowfall is expected. Also, tomorrow in some parts of southeast of the country scattered showers, sometimes with thunderstorms and unexpected strong winds will not be unusual.”
The director general of prediction and early warning at the Meteorological Organization also said: “The day after tomorrow (Friday, April 9) the rainfall system will gradually exit the northeast of the country, and from late in the same day in the northwest of the country and west of the Caspian Sea coast rainfall will resume.”
This Meteorological Organization expert, noting that “today winds will be strong in Semnan, Qom and south Tehran provinces,” added: “Today and tomorrow strong winds are expected with the possibility of dust storms and reduced air quality in Sistan and Baluchestan, east Kerman and south South Khorasan provinces.”
Ahed Vazifeh also said about Tehran’s weather conditions: “It is expected that today Tehran will experience strong winds in some hours and gradually decreasing cloud cover.”
The governor of Tehran had previously said that rescue forces in Iran’s capital are on full alert to deal with possible flooding in the metropolis.
The director general of prediction and early warning at Iran’s Meteorological Organization said that tomorrow Thursday “Tehran’s weather will be partly cloudy and in some hours accompanied by increased clouds, sometimes with showers and strong winds.”
Flood warning in four provinces and Persian Gulf islands
Iran’s Meteorological Organization warned on Wednesday of the possibility of floods in several provinces and regions of the country and predicted “showers, thunderstorms, flooding of streets and overflow of rivers” in Hormozgan, Kerman, Razavi Khorasan, North Khorasan provinces and the Persian Gulf islands.
Kabri Rafiee, an expert at Iran’s Meteorological Organization, also told IRNA, the official government news agency, that today, Wednesday, “due to the showers, the possibility of flooding of public streets, the occurrence of floods and overflow of rivers in some parts of the country is not unexpected.”
According to Ms. Rafiee: “This possibility exists in areas such as Hormozgan, south Kerman, Persian Gulf islands, some parts of Razavi Khorasan and northern regions where today’s rainfall is more intense.”
This Meteorological Organization expert, emphasizing that “today strong winds are expected in Semnan, Qom and south Tehran provinces,” said: “Wednesday and Thursday we will see similar conditions in Sistan and Baluchestan, east Kerman and south Razavi Khorasan provinces and there is a possibility of dust storms and reduced air quality in these areas.”
Heavy damages and continuation of rescue operations
Rescue forces in various flood-hit areas of Iran remain on alert. Yesterday, rescue and relief operations for the flood victims in Shiraz continued. Multiple reports of heavy damage in various parts of Iran have been released.
Yesterday heavy rainfall and flooding blocked the international transit route between Tehran and Mashhad. Strong winds cut electricity to several villages in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and the overflow of the province’s rivers submerged 17 main and secondary bridges. A village in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad was completely flooded. The Bashar River in Yasuj overflowed in an unprecedented manner and a 15-year-old teenager became a victim of the overflow of the Sush seasonal river in Yasuj city. About 100 residential houses in Aligoodarz were destroyed and a 35-year-old man died under the rubble. Also, many villages in Aligoodarz were surrounded by water and the communication route to 290 villages in the area was cut off.
The floods also caused significant damage to Isfahan’s roads and bridges. Local officials report the possibility of intermittent flooding in the city. The Zayanderud coast was also evacuated yesterday. There are also reports of the possibility of floods flowing toward Khuzestan. The governor of Khuzestan ordered the evacuation of villages threatened by flooding. The Dez River in Dezful city overflowed and caused significant damage to the city’s tourism infrastructure.
Two bridges in Lorestan were completely destroyed and reports of a “critical situation” in the province were released. Warnings were issued for the possibility of flooding in Kermanshah. Ilam Province faced heavy damage and Sanandaj streets were severely flooded.
These are only a very small portion of the damage caused by recent floods in more than 20 Iranian provinces. The extent of this damage is still not fully known. However, Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s President, has asked his first deputy Eshagh Jahangiri to prepare a final estimate of the damage caused by the recent floods for today’s cabinet meeting.
Formation of “flood investigation committee” and Rouhani’s visit to Golestan and Mazandaran
Mohammad Baqer Nobakhta, head of Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization, announced on Wednesday the payment of “710 billion tomans in unconditional aid” to flood victims. According to Tasnim, Nobakhta said: “These aids will be paid in the form of 580 billion tomans in current expenditures and 130 billion tomans in the development sector.”
This comes as according to local Kermanshah authorities, the flood damage for this city’s infrastructure alone was 376 billion tomans.
Hassan Rouhani, in today’s first cabinet session of 1398 (2019-2020), emphasizing that “the government will compensate with all its means and capabilities the damages of all those who were harmed in recent events,” announced the issuance of instructions for the formation of a “national flood investigation committee in order to take short-term and long-term measures in dealing with this natural disaster.”
Iran’s President said: “Although in previous years we have sometimes witnessed flooding problems in some provinces, the fact that suddenly about 25 of the country’s 31 provinces and on some days all provinces are involved in it, may be unprecedented or rare. Such an occurrence reduces aid from one province to a neighboring province.”
Rouhani added: “This year’s conditions apparently are conditions of excess rainfall, and instead of the 10 years in which we witnessed drought, in excess rainfall conditions the amount of rainfall suddenly increases significantly.”
Hassan Rouhani noted: “Today I will announce the formation of a national committee to review and investigate flooding so that, like the good report that was prepared regarding the Plasco incident, a report on short-term and long-term measures will be prepared in this field and we will work so that if in the coming months and years God’s blessing exists, we will be able to harness it.”
It was expected that Iran’s cabinet would decide today on “how to compensate damages and reconstruct affected areas.” Hassan Rouhani has also traveled on Wednesday to Golestan and Mazandaran provinces to “closely monitor the process of providing aid to flood victims.”
Source: DW
