Severe floods leave 5 dead, 7 injured in 7 provinces, Iran

Heavy rains affecting Iran over the past couple of days have left at least 5 people dead and 7 others injured. 

According to a statement by the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) on August 3, relief and rescue forces provided services to 846 flood survivors in 7 affected provinces. While relief operations have been completed in 5 provinces, they still continue in Qazvin and Zanjan.

The city of Avaj was one of the worst affected after recording just over 36 mm (1.4 inches) of rain in just 40 minutes on August 2, 2021.

"Over the last two years, Iran was doused with rain which was unprecedented during the past 50 years, but last year, unfortunately, the country faced drought, which shows a 40% decrease in rainfall," the Tehran Times reports.

Rainfall extremes over the past 3 years slowly questioned the conception that Iran is experiencing a long-term drought and some of the experts announced that a wet spell will embrace the country, the paper noted.

"So, some experts claimed that Iran has entered a period of a wet spell after experiencing dry spells over the past few decades, some others highly rejected the claim implying that the country faced a lack of rain by 50 mm (1.96 inches) over the past 50 years."