2m in need of aid after Iran floods

The devastating floods that have swamped many parts of Iran since March have left two million people in need of humanitarian aid, the Red Crescent said on Monday.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies called the floods the “largest disaster to hit Iran in more than 15 years.”

According to the IFRC, the floods have killed at least 78 people and injured more than 1,000 others.

An estimated 10 million people across 2,000 cities and towns have been affected, with more than half a million displaced, it said.

“In all, more than 457,000 people have been reached by Red Crescent services,” and emergency accommodation provided for 239,000.

The Red Crescent said heavy rains and flash floods have affected more than 2,000 cities and towns across almost all of Iran’s 31 provinces.

It said an estimated 10 million people have been affected in some way, including more than half a million displaced from their homes, some permanently. The Red Crescent said it has provided about 239,000 people with temporary shelters.

Heavy rainfall in eastern Iran since Saturday prompted authorities to renew flood warnings for large swathes of the country, with local media reporting rivers bursting their banks and roads being swept away.

Iran has been hit by massive floods since March 19 following heavy rainfall in the normally arid country.

Alternating between the country’s north, west and southwest, the floods have caused between $2.2 and $2.6 billion of damages.

Officials said Sunday that 25 out of Iran’s 31 provinces have been affected and more than 14,000 kilometres of roads damaged.

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader on Monday approved the use of special emergency funds to deal with damage from major flooding that has killed at least 76 people and injured more than 1,000 over the past several weeks.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave the government permission to use the National Development Fund, which collects some of the country’s foreign revenue for emergency needs, should the country’s regular budget not be enough. President Hassan Rouhani asked the country’s supreme leader last week to release about $2 billion from the fund.

Agencies