Friday , 29 March 2024

Amber Warning in Tehran as New Floods Batter Mountain City

Iranwire – Fresh floods have engulfed the county of Firuzkuh in Tehran province on Wednesday shortly after weeks-long deluges left a trail of destruction across Iran.

Governor Mohammad Heydari Manesh told reporters that relief teams had already been onsite in the village of Mazdaran when they were alerted to rising water levels in Firuzkuh city, a heritage site in the Alborz Mountains.

“Before the floods,” he said, “the city’s Crisis Management Headquarters had already closed the Vashi Gorge tourist site. But we’re now seeing floods in the famous villages of Namavar, Jalizjand, Kemard, Dasht Amiri and Mohor.

“We’ve had a power outage in the village of Avar – operatives from the city’s electricity department have been dispatched – and a fish farm on the old Semnan road has been destroyed by the flood.”

Six separate search and rescue teams have been dispatched to the county together with dogs trained to help locate survivors, the CEO of the Red Crescent for Tehran province said.

An amber warning has been issued for heavy rainfall and floods in Tehran. Mojtaba Jalali, director-general of meteorology for Tehran province, said: “In the highlands there are risks of runoff, flooding on some roads, rivers and streams bursting their banks, storms and falling trees. There will also be low visibility on the mountain roads.”

Jalali advised locals to avoid traveling close to banks and riverbeds, to reduce movement and refrain from mountain climbing. He also called on executive bodies including municipalities and the Ministry of Energy’s local branch to “be prepared for crisis”. 

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