TEHRAN: Flooding in southern Iran has killed a minimum of 21 folks and left others lacking following heavy rainfall within the largely arid nation, state media reported on Saturday (Jul 23).
“Twenty-one folks have been killed and two are nonetheless lacking,” within the floods that affected a number of cities in and round Estahban county within the southern province of Fars, Hossein Darvishi, provincial head of the Crimson Crescent Society, was quoted as saying by state TV.
Movies posted on native media and social media confirmed automobiles caught within the rising waters of the Roodball river and carried away whereas mother and father tried to rescue their youngsters from the autos.
The governor of Estahban, Yousef Kargar, mentioned “round 5pm yesterday, heavy rains… within the central elements of Estahban County led to flooding,” based on state information company IRNA.
Estahban is 174km east of the provincial capital Shiraz.
The tragedy occurred on a summer time weekend in Iran, when households have a tendency to move to cooler areas equivalent to riversides, lakesides and valleys.
“Plenty of native folks and sightseers (from different areas) who had gone to the riverside and have been current within the river mattress have been caught within the flood because of the rise within the water degree,” Kargar added.
Iran has endured repeated droughts over the previous decade, but additionally common floods, a phenomenon made worse when torrential rain falls on sun-baked earth.
Photographs launched by Iran’s Crimson Crescent Society confirmed rescuers strolling on cracked dry soil whereas others labored amongst reeds.
In 2019, heavy inundations within the nation’s south left a minimum of 76 folks useless and brought on harm estimated at greater than US$2 billion.
In January two folks have been initially reported killed in flash flooding in Fars when heavy rains hit the world, however the toll rose to a minimum of eight there and elsewhere in Iran’s south.
Scientists say local weather change amplifies excessive climate, together with droughts in addition to the potential for the elevated depth of rain storms.
DRYING UP
Like different close by international locations, Iran has suffered continual dry spells and warmth waves for years, and these are anticipated to worsen.
In the previous couple of months, demonstrations have occurred towards the drying up of rivers, notably in central and southwestern Iran.
Final November, tens of hundreds of individuals gathered within the parched riverbed of the nation’s Zayandeh Rood river, which runs via the central metropolis of Isfahan, to complain concerning the drought and blame officers for diverting water.
Safety forces fired tear fuel when the protest turned violent and mentioned they arrested 67 folks.
Final week, official media mentioned Iranian police had arrested a number of suspects for disturbing safety after they protested the drying up of a lake as soon as considered the Center East’s largest.
Lake Urmia, within the mountains of northwest Iran, started shrinking in 1995 attributable to a mix of extended drought, and the extraction of water for farming and dams, based on the UN Atmosphere Programme.
In neighbouring Iraq in December, 12 folks died in flash floods that swept via the north of that nation, regardless of extreme drought.
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