Storms, flash floods kill 4 in Iran

At least four people have been killed in thunderstorms and flash flooding in northern Iran, state media reported today.
A woman, 70, died after being struck by lightning while working outside in Golestan province, the website of state television channel IRIB said.
Three others -- two parents and their child -- drowned in flash floods near a burst river bank, it added.
Storms swept across provinces in the north and northwest yesterday and the inclement weather continued into today.
"Severe storms have greatly damaged more than 900 houses in the city and villages and 100 workshops in Amol," official IRNA news agency quoted local governor Ahmad Monfared as saying.

Amol is in Mazandaran province, on the shore of the Caspian Sea, where wind gusts reaching 130 kilometres per hour cut power for a quarter of the population, Mizan news agency reported.
Officials have warned that the storms could reach the northeastern Khorasan Razavi province by later today, Mizan added.
Roads were blocked in some Golestan areas, leaving motorists stranded, a local crisis management official told Mizan.