Heavy downpours, flooding hit Iran again

Barely a month after flooding and landslides that claimed dozens of lives in northwestern Iran, heavy downpours have once again hit many parts of the country.

Shahin Fat-hi, of the Iranian Red Crescent Society’s Search and Rescue Department, said on Saturday that as many as 12 provinces, including Tehran, Mazandaran, Isfahan, and Fars, respectively in the country’s north-central, northern, central, and southern areas, faced flooding on the back of three straight days of heavy rain.

Power cut also hit Tehran after the downpours.

The city of Robat-Karim took the brunt of the inclement weather in the Tehran Province. Floodwaters swept into some houses in the city.

Floodwaters also destroyed five houses in two villages near the city of Firouzkouh, also in Tehran Province.

Fat-hi said rescue services had been rendered to more than 1,200 people in 40 cities and villages across the country, including 179 people who had been placed in makeshift residences.

Rescue operations were still underway in Tehran, Isfahan, and Fars as well as the provinces of Lorestan and Qom, the official added.

Last month, torrential downpours caused flooding and landslides in four provinces in Iran’s northwest, killing a total of 48 people.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei extended a message of condolence for the loss of life in the disasters last month.