The strongest, longest and deadliest blizzard in history was recorded at the end of the 20th century. A terrible snow storm began on the territory of sunny Iran, where people were completely unprepared for such difficulties. Usually the weather in this country is very pleasant and snow falls only in mountainous areas.
Tut the snow that began on February 3, 1972 turned out to be deadly, because people were simply not ready for such a situation. There is not much information about the strongest blizzard in Iran, but there are some interesting facts.
The height of the snow cover after the strongest blizzard reached 8 meters.
The worst snowstorm in history
Exactly 49 years ago, snow began in Iran, which initially did not disturb anyone. On the contrary, people were happy with the falling snowflakes that adorned trees and houses. But they did not expect that within a few hours a small snowball would turn into a severe blizzard that would claim the lives of thousands of people.
In large settlements, no one was particularly hurt, because there people could be helped by rescuers. But the inhabitants of the village houses could only hide in houses and wait for the end of the snow storm.
They did not know that they would have to wait a long time. Snow and strong winds lasted from February 3-9, arguably the longest blizzard in modern history. For a week, almost all roads leading to the villages were covered with snow, so rescuers could not come to help people.
It was impossible to reach the villages even by air by helicopters, because visibility was almost zero. And people needed help because the wind damaged power lines and communications. Not only could the villagers not be able to go outside, they also did not have electricity and telephone connections.
In some areas of Iran, the height of the snow cover reached 8 meters, there was really a lot of snow. The village houses were left under the snow, which pressed on their roofs.
Due to the great pressure, some houses simply collapsed. Some people remained under the rubble, and some froze, because the air temperature reached -20 degrees Celsius.
As a result of the terrible blizzard, about 4,000 people died – such a heavy damage snow in modern history has not done. In the villages of the Iranian villages of Kakkan and Kumar, not a single living person remained.
Consequences of the disaster
The large number of victims is explained by the fact that rescuers simply could not come to their aid. As mentioned above, people were not prepared for such a heavy snowfall.
Many families clearly did not have food supplies, so they had to starve for several days. Due to the lack of electricity, they were also unable to heat the premises. Since it was very cold outside and the roofs were damaged, many people simply froze.
The problems of the Iranian people did not end there. Since this country is very warm, after February 9, a huge amount of snow began to melt quickly. This caused a flood that even affected the survivors.
It took quite a lot of money to restore the structures, and it took a lot of time. On top of all this, people had to recover their health – due to unexpected cold weather, many people fell ill.
