'Unprecedented' flooding kills more than 20 in Iran as powerful storm slams Middle East

By Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather staff writer

At least 21 people have been killed in southern Iran as the result of severe flooding that occurred on Monday after a robust storm swept through the Middle East, according to AFP.

Nearly 100 people have been injured.

Reports on the death toll have been conflicted. UPI reported that the death toll reached 25.

Heavy rain outside the city of Shiraz triggered the flooding, Iran's head of emergency services, Pirhossein Koulivand, said.

Videos posted to social media showed floodwaters sweeping away cars in Shiraz. In some situations, people had to climb onto the top of vehicles as they frantically escaped the raging waters.

This Google Maps image shows the city of Shiraz on a day with quieter weather. (Image/Google Maps)

The Associated Press, citing Iranian state TV, said Monday that most of the people killed had been trying to take videos of the flooding on their phones.

Floods were reportedly imminent in the provinces of Fars, Kurdistan, Qom and Isfahan, with the water authority in the capital of Tehran saying floods were a possibility there as well, the AP said.

Vehicles are piled up on a street after a flash flood in the southern city of Shiraz, Iran, Monday, March 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Amin Berenjkar/Mehr News Agency)

Farther north, at least 56,000 people have been impacted by floods in the provinces of Golestan and Mazandaran since a storm dropped heavy rain in the area on March 19 and 20.

Iran's Minister of Energy, Reza Ardakanian, called the floods "unprecedented" and cited climate change as as the primary factor, according to AFP.

"Climate change is forcing itself on our country," Ardakanian said. 

Military vehicles rescue people after flash flooding around the northern city of Aq Qala in Golestan province, Iran, Monday, March 25, 2019.

The storm system responsible for the deadly flooding brought heavy rainfall to other parts of the Middle East in recent days.

In Iraq, at least 10 people, including children, were killed in flooding near Al-Sharqat.

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Downpours continued across western and northern Iraq on Monday night and Tuesday.

"Drier weather will return to the hardest-hit areas on Wednesday before the risk for rain resumes on Thursday," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Eric Leister said.

"Another round of heavy rainfall will be possible this weekend into early next week," he said.