Heavy rainfall causes flash floods in Iran

Heavy rainfall followed by flash floods wreak havoc in western and southwestern part of Iran. Flash floods have claimed one casualty so far, while evacuation warnings have been issued to residents of Lorestan Province.

Lorestan Province: Parts of western and southwestern Iran were inundated with floodwaters on Monday, putting towns and villages in the region on full alert, state TV reported.

According to the report, flash floods have claimed one casualty so far, while evacuation warnings have been issued to residents of Lorestan Province, in the west of the country.

Several rivers in the area have overflowed their banks in recent days, triggered by heavy rainfall, swamping nearby residential areas.

Officials have also warned about the possibility of dams bursting and have ordered emergency water discharges from reservoirs, according to the report.

The flooding has cut off transport routes in Lorestan province including railroads, the report added.

Since late March, over 56,000 people have been affected by heavy rainfall and flash floods across Iran.

The northern provinces of Golestan and Mazandaran have been hit worst since the flooding began with the highest number of casualties.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency has put the death toll from floods across the country at 44.

Last year (2018), at least 30 people were killed by flash floods in the Iranian province of Eastern Azerbaijan.