After government officials urged citizens to stay indoors and refrain from travelling due to impending inclement weather, 19 people were left dead and dozens more injured.
This dangerous weather could not have come at a worse time, as Iranian New Year, Nowruz, is welcomed, large quantities of people are travelling, increasing the chances of injuries and deaths.
According to sources the rain storm that resulted in disastrous flooding occurred in two different 15 minute periods of heavy rainfall. The rain fall from these short periods of time was enough to cause flooding across the city of Shiraz, which was the worst affected area.
Many think that the effects of the flooding on human welfare could’ve been lessened had this not occurred during a popular travelling time and had people taken the warnings by the government more seriously.
Flights into Tehran have been cancelled and the President, Hassan Rouhani, returned from a trip early to deal with the flooding disaster. Many are criticizing the president in his dealings with the flood disaster.
In high risk flooding areas, people are still reluctant to leave their homes because they don’t want to lose them to the flooding. These people are seemingly risking their lives in an attempt to save their homes.
Social media is shedding even more light on the horrifying disaster. There are videos surfacing of the flood taking lives in the streets. Personal property as well as infrastructure continues to be damaged.
The devastating floods that have ravaged parts of Iran have endangered and continue to endanger the lives of Iranians. More needs to be done in order to protect people in the areas affected by this flooding. The government needs to take extreme action especially in high risk areas. People who refuse to evacuate need to be very informed about the risk to their own life they are taking.