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IRAN-FLOOD-WEATHER-HOSPITAL
Floods force evacuation of hospital in southwest Iran
TEHRAN, April 8, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Iranian authorities on Monday evacuated
patients from a hospital threatened by floodwaters in the southwestern city
of Ahvaz, the semi-official news agency ISNA reported.
Iran has been hit by several weeks of unprecedented flooding across most of
the usually arid country that has killed 70 people, according to the
emergency services.
On Monday, authorities were battling to prevent floods reaching Ahvaz,
which is the capital of Khuzestan province and home to about 1.3 million
people.
The advancing waters sparked fears that a hospital on the city’s northern
outskirts would be submerged after the nearby Karkheh river burst its banks.
“Salamat hospital has been evacuated and all patients transferred to
Golestan hospital on the orders of the crisis management authorities due to
the risk of the hospital being flooded,” the head of Golestan hospital,
Meysam Moazi, told ISNA.
The huge floods have forced authorities to release water from one of the
largest dams in the area, which has left some of the cities downstream under
threat.
A “significant amount” of floodwater from Karkheh started moving toward
Ahvaz on Sunday, according to city mayor Mansour Katanbaf.
“We’ve been trying to manage the water … most of it has been diverted
toward other channels and what’s left is being handled,” Katanbaf told ISNA.
Authorities ordered the evacuation of six new cities along the Karkheh
river on Saturday as the situation neared “critical” status.
According to ISNA, a total of 210 villages along the river have been
evacuated, 61 of which are now flooded.
Flooding swamped northeast Iran in mid March before spreading to the west
and southwest of the country later in the month.
Heavy rains brought more floods to the west and southwest at the start of
April.
The flooding has caused damage worth 150 trillion Iranian rials — more
than $1 billion at the free market rate, according to an official estimate
given by lawmaker Mehrdad Lahooti.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1716 hrs