Snow Crisis in North Iran to Ease Soon: Minister

reporter 1222 — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 09:47:32 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said Iran northern province of Gilan will soon overcome crisis caused by the heavy snow that has paralyzed many areas.

In an interview with Tasnim on Thursday, Eslami said efforts have been underway by the administrative organizations to plow snow and clean the roads in Gilan Province since the heavy snowfall.

The minister said the traffic jams have cleared on the main roads connecting cities in Gilan, noting that efforts are underway to reopen rural roads as well.

He added that special efforts are being made to clear the roads to which the Ministry of Energy must have access in order to reconnect the power.

On Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani ordered the administrative organizations to mobilize efforts to help the people in the northern provinces of the country suffering in heavy snowfall.

Rouhani ordered the ministries of Roads and Urban Development, Energy, Information and Communications Technology, and Interior to mobilize all their capacities to expedite the aid and rescue service work and relieve the problems caused by the heavy snowfall in the northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran.

According to Iran’s National Emergency Service, five people have been killed in an avalanche triggered by heavy snow in Gilan.

Two other people have been also killed in Rasht, the capital of Gilan province, and 78 others injured due to extreme weather conditions and snow-related incidents across the province.

An official in Iran’s road transportation organization said on Tuesday that all passenger vehicles trapped on the Qazvin-Rasht Highway due to a traffic jam caused by snow would be helped to move from the road by late night.

Earlier reports in the Iranian media suggested that the snowfall and strong winds had dumped one meter of snow on the northernmost parts of the road near Rasht.

Others said the storm had left nearly 100,000 homes and businesses in Rasht, a city of more than 700,000 people, without power while causing outages in telephone and mobile communications.

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Heavy snowfall in Gilan left 7 dead, 85 injured

reporter 1222 — Wed, 12 Feb 2020 13:15:31 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – At least seven people have been killed and 85 others injured in the heavy snowfall and avalanches in Iran’s northern Gilan province.

At least seven people died and 85 injured due to heavy snowfall and an avalanche incident that hit Gilan province in northern Iran, according to reports.

The heavy snowfall in Gilan, with a height of up to 1.5 meters in some areas, created serious problems for the residents of at least 52 cities of the province, such as power cuts in almost all areas including the provincial capital of Rasht.

The power access of 256,000 people in Gilan was cut, but the Energy Ministry has managed to restore the access for some 50,000.

The snow started on Sunday evening in the western part of the province and spread to the central and eastern parts on Monday and Tuesday.

Despite earlier predictions, the Crisis Management and roads officials were surprised as many major routes, including the Tehran-Rasht Freeway, were blocked and people were stranded in the snow-blanketed roads for more than a day.

Power, water, gas, and internet cuts have also exacerbated the situation for the people of this province.

Now the weather forecasts say it will get warmer as of Wednesday, but that will increase the risk of flooding and avalanche in mountainous areas.

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Snow Crisis in North Iran to Ease Soon: Minister

Heavy snowfall in Gilan left 7 dead, 85 injured