At least 80 people have been killed and 30 others are missing in floods that have ravaged Iran for more than a week, state media reported on Saturday.
Since the beginning of Iran’s month of Mordad on July 23, “59 people have died and 30 are still missing in incidents caused by the recent floods,” Yaghoub Soleimani, secretary-general of the Red Crescent Society, was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
In addition, flash floods caused by heavy rains in the normally dry southern province of Fars killed at least 22 people shortly before the murderad began.
Many of these victims spent the day on a riverbank.
Soleimani noted that 60 cities, 140 towns and more than 500 villages across the country with a population of around 83 million were affected by the floods.
Tehran province has been hardest hit with 35 deaths. Nearby Mazandaran province has the highest number of missing people, at 20, according to a list released by the Red Crescent.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed condolences to the families and urged the authorities to take necessary measures to repair the damage in a letter published on his website on Saturday.
President Ebrahim Raisi was visiting the flood-ravaged areas in the Firouzkouh region east of the capital, his office said.
Severe damage was caused there, above all by a landslide in the mountains late Thursday, in which 14 people died, according to state media.
Videos and images posted by Iranian media and social media showed houses and cars surrounded by gray mud and people trying to recover their belongings.
Initial estimates point to more than 60 trillion riyals (about $200 million) in damage to the agricultural sector, Agriculture Minister Javad Sadatinejad said, according to state broadcaster IRIB.
Iran’s meteorological center on Saturday warned of more rain falling in the southern and northern provinces in the coming days.
Scientists say climate change is increasing extreme weather patterns, including droughts, as well as the potential for increased rainstorm intensity.
Like other countries in the region, Iran has experienced repeated droughts over the past decade, but also periodic floods, a phenomenon made worse when torrential rains hit the sun-kissed earth.
In 2019, heavy rains in southern Iran killed at least 76 people and caused an estimated more than $2 billion in damage.
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