One year after the floods of 2019; this year's floods in 13 Iranian provinces have so far caused 11 deaths

Heavy rains in 13 provinces of Iran have left 11 dead since Sunday, April 23, and caused severe damage to roads, facilities, and infrastructure in these areas.

According to reports, several provinces, including Hormozgan, Bushehr, Fars, Sistan and Baluchestan, Qom, Gilan, South Khorasan, Semnan, and Kerman, have been affected by flooding and inundation, and some routes in these provinces have been blocked.

The Iranian Emergency Organization reported that flooding in 13 Iranian provinces has so far resulted in 11 deaths and 13 injuries, with four of the fatalities resulting from a tunnel collapse in Mohr County in Fars Province.

The Road Administration and Transport Organization also reported that 130 rural and secondary roads in the country were closed due to flooding last night. According to Reza Akbari, deputy director of the Road Administration of the Road Administration and Transport Organization, the most damage was in the southern cities of Kerman, Hormozgan, Bushehr, and Khuzestan.

In southern Sistan and Baluchestan, the Chabahar-Konarak axis and many routes on the Jask axis have been closed due to flooding.

Hossein Amiri Khamkani, the head of the Kerman Provincial Assembly of Representatives, also announced that due to flooding in five southern cities of the province, electricity and water have been cut off in a number of villages, and more than 100 villages are also affected by flooding.

Heavy rainfall in Qom also led to flooding in the city, causing the ground to subside and creating a 7-meter-deep sinkhole. The incident caused two cars to sink into the sinkhole. Rescue workers rescued the occupants of one of the cars, but the occupants of the second car, three members of a family, lost their lives when the car sank into the mud.

In Fars province, it has also been reported that roads in 80 villages are blocked and electricity has been cut off in 60 villages. In Kerman province, the entrance bridge to the city of Kahnouj has been destroyed due to heavy rain and rising river water in the city.

Heavy rain in Kangan, located in Bushehr Province, has also caused flooding of streets and people's homes.

Previously, the Crisis Management Office had warned of the possibility of flooding in the last week of March and the first week of April in Iran.

Iran faced widespread floods in April 2019. These floods killed at least 76 people in Iran last year, but the Islamic Republic's officials and managers have not taken effective action to prevent floods and inundation and reduce damage in various cities.

US officials have repeatedly warned against the mismanagement of Iran's natural resources and the unnecessary and unplanned construction of dams aimed at lining the pockets of corrupt officials of the Islamic Republic regime, citing it as one of the main factors behind various environmental crises, including devastating floods and unprecedented droughts.

In May of last year, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while announcing support for the Iranian people, said, "We are witnessing financial and environmental crises in Iran. Corruption has engulfed the country. The regime is stealing from its own people."

Also, Brian Hook, the US Special Representative for Iran, pointed out that six hundred dams have been built in Iran "without any environmental assessment" after the revolution, and stated that the Islamic Republic regime has destroyed the country's water resources through mismanagement over the past forty years.

Source: Voice of America