Towns and villages in southern Sistan and Baluchestan were hit by floods from January 10 to 12.
A week after the heavy rains that struck Sistan and Baluchestan, some 350 to 400 villages are still submerged in water.
Locals say some 40,000 houses have been washed away. Roads connecting cities and villages have been blocked. People hanged on to the trees to fight the deluge.
One woman, Mahrokh Gholamhosseinpour said, “The floods washed away mud houses and the thin sheep that we survived on. Dishes and clothes were washed away. The children had been wearing ripped pairs of shoes in complete poverty. Those shoes were also washed away.”
Women and children shiver in the cold. Their legs are immersed in water at nights. They need clothes and heating. Shivering in the winter cold, three girls describe their lives after the flood:
First girl: “We are dying of cold. They don’t give us any fuel.”
Second girl: “The flood came yesterday. It took our houses and everything we had. Our sheep died. We have nothing left. The Red Crescent does not answer its phone at all!”
Third girl: “The flood came and flooded our homes.”
In Zarabad and Konarak areas, one or two people were hanging from every tree. But how long can they survive in such conditions over the course of a few days in the rain and cold weather when they have no food and insufficient clothing?
60% of the people of Sistan and Baluchestan live in slums and one-fifth of children suffer from mal-nutrition.
Floodwaters have pushed alligators called “gando” into villages, menacing flood victims. According to the Director-General of Sistan and Baluchestan, the alligators have become aggressive due to feeling endangered by the floods.
Proper planning could have prevented this natural disaster.
The Iranian regime just spent 15 million Euros to launch missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq, but has put up funds to aid flood victims in Sistan and Baluchestan.
