At Least 61 Dead in Iran’s Week-Long Flooding (+Video)

According to the head of the Red Crescent Relief and Rescue Organization, 61 people have died as a result of the recent heavy rains and flooding that have affected 20 provinces of the country, including 111 cities and 310 villages.

According to the most recent information, more than 3,500 people have received emergency housing, and approximately 1,500 people have been rescued from floods and inundation.

Since the start of the Iranian month of Mordad on July 23, "59 people died and 32 are still missing in the incidents caused by recent floods," Yaghoub Soleimani, head of the Red Crescent Society, was quoted as saying.

According to a list published by the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Tehran province is the hardest-hit with 35 deaths. Nearby Mazandaran province has the highest number of missing people after the capital at 12.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, in a letter published Saturday, expressed condolences and sympathy to the families and called on authorities to take necessary measures to repair the damage.

President Ebrahim Raisi also visited flood-ravaged areas in the Firouzkouh region east of the capital in person.

Severe damage happened there mostly because of a mountain landslide late Thursday which claimed 13 lives.

Videos and pictures posted by Iranian media and on social media showed houses and cars surrounded by grey mud, and people trying to recover their belongings.

According to scientists, climate change intensifies extreme weather, including droughts and the possibility for stronger rainstorms.

Iran has seen many droughts over the past ten years, as have other nations in the region, but it has also experienced frequent floods, which are compounded worse when torrential rain falls on sun-baked land.