UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that 18 provinces in Iran are currently experiencing floods, with 7 fatalities and 2,534 people rescued and over 300 displaced between 10 and 14 April. Further heavy rain is expected.
Previously the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) reported deadly flooding in Yazd and Razavi Khorasan provinces. Since then, OCHA said that 29 cities in 18 provinces have been affected. As of 14 April, the worst hit provinces include Isfahan, Tehran, Alborz, South and North Khorasan, Semnan, Qom, Qazvin, Kerman, Kermanshah, Golestan, Gilan, Lorestan, and Yazd. Fatalities were reported in Yazd, Markazi, Kerman and Razavi Khorasan.
OCHA said, “In all, 2,534 people were rescued, 246 people were sheltered, and 65 people were moved to safer areas within 18 provinces in the past week. Emergency services were also deployed to rescue settlers and stranded passengers from western Iran to central regions and to the regions near Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
Flooding has severely damaged crops in Sistan and Baluchistan, Hamedan, Kermanshah and West Azerbaijan provinces. Roads have been blocked between 68 villages in Bushehr and Bakhtiari and provinces. In Razavi Khorasan province, 21 village roads and 11 main roads have been blocked, and a natural gas pipeline was ruptured due to the heavy rains and rising water level. In Lorestan and Qom provinces, a number of houses, stores and vehicles were damaged.
