Apr 14, 2019, 1:33 PM

Flood incurs up to $2.5bn loss: interior min.

TEHRAN, Apr. 14 (MNA) – Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli announce on Sunday that the recent heavy rainfalls and flash floods have incurred some 300 trillion rials (about $2.17 billion) to 350 trillion rials (about $2.5 billion) of loss to the country so far.

Making the remarks at the Iranian Parliament, the minister said that 25 provinces and above 4,400 villages are influenced by the flash floods.

According to Iran’s Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati, the estimated damage to the country’s agricultural sector stands at 130 trillion rials ($942 million) by the present day.

As the Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami announced, the worth of damage in roads and railways is 35.2 trillion rials ($255 million).

Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian also said that the flood across the country has caused about $152.2m worth of damage to Iran’s water and electricity sector.

As reported, the announced figures are expected to climb since more rainfalls are predicted for Iran in near future.

Exceptional rainfalls since March 19 have flooded some 1,900 cities and villages across Iran, claiming over 70 lives and causing hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to Iranian water and agriculture infrastructures. Floods have affected several provinces in the north and west of the country including, Golestan, Mazandaran, Lorestan, and Khuzestan.

HJ/FNA 13980125000497

News ID 144088