Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Iran, February 28, 2020—Floodwaters are spreading to over 14 provinces across Iran, leaving behind massive damages especially in the provinces of Lorestan and Ilam. Many locals of Lorestan Province have been forced to evacuate their homes.
The status quo in the town of Nourabad is described as critical and the entire city is surrounded by floodwaters and large areas across the city are flooded. 2,000 families evacuated their homes in this city alone.
Roads leading to 400 villages across Lorestan Province have been cut off and dozens of bridges are now damaged. Electricity and water have been cut-off in numerous villages. Landslides are also reported in 30 villages due to the recent floods, rendering devastating damage to the already impoverished locals.
In the city of Mamulan reports indicate floodwaters have damaged the nearby gas pipe, leaving locals without gas from Tuesday, February 25.
Residents in the western parts of Poledokhtar, another city in Lorestan Province, along with nine nearby villages, have been forced to evacuate their homes after floodwaters entered their areas.
Cities throughout Lorestan Province in western #Iran are witnessing rising floodwaters following seasonal rains.
Flood warnings have been issued in more than 50 cities ranging in parts of northern, northwest, west, southwest and southern Iran.https://t.co/0Kjy2Zdqnu— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) February 26, 2020
30 kilometers of the Poledokhtar-Khorramabad road is under water in many different areas due to landslides and rising floodwaters. This has blocked access for much of the locals and trucks providing goods to areas between these two major cities in this area of western Iran.
This new round of catastrophic floods have arrived less than 12 months after the Spring 2019 floods that ravaged many parts of the country. Necessary infrastructures have not been built or repaired and people are left without homes in many parts of Iran. There are even reports of buildings crumbling and farms destroyed across the country from the rains that began on Monday, February 24.
Many locals in the city of Poledokhtar have literally been moving from one place to another during the past year. “Locals in cities such as Poledokhtar, whose patience are growing very thin, are saying officials are not taking any measures to address the flood issues in our city and province,” one official of the regime’s Ministry of Labor said.
One member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) acknowledged that the government has taken no specific action to prevent such devastating floods. Areas in the provinces of Ilam and Lorestan, especially the cities of Mamulan and Poledokhtar, are facing devastating damages from these current floods while their infrastructures have yet to be repaired following the Spring 2019 floods.
Iranian opposition President Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), called on Iranian youths to rush to the support of flood-hit areas.
“I call on all valiant youths of Lorestan, Ilam and other western provinces to launch a national solidarity effort to deal with the floods and aid the flood-stricken compatriots. Young people must take the initiative and rush to the aid of our flood-hit compatriots. The facilities usurped by the clerical regime must be placed at the disposal of the public. The ruling mullahs’ criminal cover-up, dissemination of misleading information and inaction have multiplied the scale of damages and human and material loss,” Madam Rajavi said.
I call on all valiant youths of #Lorestan, Ilam and other western provinces to launch a national solidarity effort to deal with the floods and aid the flood-stricken compatriots #Iran pic.twitter.com/SryJuxI8hi
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) February 25, 2020
