Sending "two billion" SMS messages to inform about floods in Farvardin

According to the head of Iran's Information Technology Organization, "In total, in April of this year, we sent more than two billion text messages (excluding flash messages) to people regarding flood information."

Amir Nazemi explained: "According to global statistics, 70 percent of the damage caused by events such as floods can be repaired simply through awareness raising. In other words, if we only provide correct information when an event such as a flood occurs, we will reduce costs by 70 percent."

The flood that was at the top of the news in Iran in the first two weeks of Farvardin caused about 40 trillion tomans in damage and at least 77 deaths, and according to one report, affected the lives of at least 12 million people in the country.

Iranian government officials were clearly caught off guard by the widespread flooding, especially in the early days, and the way they handled the crisis drew criticism from the public and even from officials.

Source: Radio Farda