TEHRAN – Flood has stricken 73 cities in 17 provinces across the country over the past ten days, the ISNA news agency reported on Friday.

During this period, 17 provinces of East Azarbaijan, West Azarbaijan, Ardabil, Isfahan, Ilam, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, North Khorasan, South Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, Zanjan, Semnan, Kerman, Kermanshah, Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad, Lorestan, Yazd, and Tehran were inundated.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society aid workers, including 221 teams, provided relief and rescue services to 2,645 people in flood-affected areas, offering emergency accommodation to 316 flood victims, and relocating 115 to safe areas, Mehdi Valipour, head of the IRCS Relief and Rescue Organization, said.

Additionally, water was pumped out of 233 flooded houses, and food items were distributed among the flood victims, he added.

20% of areas at high risk of flood

Twenty percent of areas across Iran are highly prone to flooding, Khosro Shahbazi, former head of the Forests, Range, and Watershed Management Organization (FRWMO) said in January 2020.

“Precipitation in Iran is one-third of the world’s average, as the country is located in a dry and fragile region where we experience 11 millimeters decrease in precipitation every 10 years and an increase in evaporation of more than 50 millimeters every year,” he explained.

Rainfall fluctuations usually lead to flood and devastation, so comprehensive planning for watershed management and flood control is required, he noted.

Since most of the water supply is extracted from groundwater resources, the country is in a critical condition in terms of groundwater resources, he stated, highlighting that because intake is less than water withdrawal from the aquifers, the best way to store rainwater is through watershed and aquifer projects.

FB/MG