Floods that have swept the country since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 20) have inflicted up to 9 trillion rials ($56 million) in losses on some 10,000 kilometers of roads across the country.
This was announced by Reza Akbari, the deputy head of Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, affiliated with the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, IRNA reported.
“These roads have suffered minimal to 100% damage,” he said.
Akbari noted that last year (March 2019-20), floods caused 35 trillion rials ($218 million) worth of damage to roads.
Last year's flooding was particularly devastating. Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli put the cost of damage at $2.5 billion.
Former agriculture minister, Mahmoud Hojjati, said the subsectors of agriculture incurred losses of around $1 billion.
A total of 22.97 trillion rials ($143 million) worth of financial aid and banking facilities have been paid as compensation to farmers affected by last year’s heavy floods, director general of Agricultural Crisis Management and Damage Reduction Bureau with the Agriculture Ministry, Mohammad Mousavi, said recently.
“Around $76.87 million of the total sum were granted as financial aid and the remaining $65.82 million were banking facilities,” he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
In March and April 2019, heavy floods swept across much of Iranian provinces, especially Golestan, Fars, Khuzestan and Lorestan.
The severe flooding was the world's ninth costliest weather disaster of 2019, according to insurance broker Aon (formerly called Aon Benfield).
It cost the country $8.3 billion in economic losses and $200 million in insured losses sustained by private insurers and government-sponsored programs, while claiming the lives of 77 people.
The first wave of rain began on March 17, leading to flooding in two northern provinces, Golestan and Mazandaran, with the former receiving as much as 70% of its average annual rainfall in a single day.
Statistics show that only 3% of Iran are located in areas with a low probability of disasters.
Iran is exposed to 32 out of 43 natural disasters, the most common of which are drought, earthquake, flood, wildfire and landslide.
