The Iranian Energy Ministry has issued a top-level flood warning for areas in northwest of the country, saying that 36 hours of rains that are expected to start on Tuesday could cause floods in five provinces in the region.
The Ministry’s Institute of Water Research said in a Monday statement that provinces of Ardabil, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Zanjan could get up to 150 millimeters of rain in the upcoming days.
It said the record rainfall could cause rivers to burst their banks and lead to flash floods in those regions.
The Institute said it had issued the warning after carefully monitoring forecasts by Iran Meteorological Organization and international and regional weather forecast models.
The warning comes exactly two years after massive floods swept through areas in northeast, north and southwestern Iran, displacing tens of thousands of people.
Those floods caused over $2.5 billion in damage to homes, infrastructure facilities and farming lands while leaving nearly 80 people dead.
Iran has seen record rainfalls in recent years after nearly three decades of drought that had affected farming and businesses in many regions across the country.
The floods in 2019 caused the government to introduce sweeping measures to mitigate the devastating impacts of the floods, including a comprehensive plan to build dams on major rivers in south and north of the country.