[custom_adv] Heavy rains in the northern and northwestern parts over the past two days claimed the lives of at least seven people, semi-official news agency reported on Saturday. [custom_adv] The unprecedented floods in the three provinces of Mazandaran, Gilan and Golestan destroyed roads, houses and bridges, and caused heavy damage to the infrastructures, the report said. [custom_adv] Cars were stuck in flood, and electricity and gas flows in the rural areas were disrupted. [custom_adv] The downpours, started on Friday, has been the heaviest during the past 20 years in the northern part of the country. [custom_adv] Iran's Rescue and Relief Organization announced that the rescue operators have been dispatched to the flood-hit areas to help people pump flood out of their houses. Eighty-nine teams involving a total of 396 rescuers are providing emergency relief in the flood-stricken cities. [custom_adv] Salimi added that some 170 people have lost their homes and have been accommodated in mosques and IRCS shelters. [custom_adv] First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri urged governor generals of Gilan and Mazandaran provinces in separate phone calls to keep rescue teams on full alert to provide aid to the affected people. [custom_adv] Torrential rains began on Friday and persisted through Saturday, overflowing rivers, washing away bridges, inundating houses and destroying infrastructural establishments. [custom_adv] "Rescuers have pumped water out of nearly 200 houses," he said. [custom_adv] Tourists to the northern cities were stuck in heavy snarl-ups on Friday evening due to the deluge, but the traffic started moving more smoothly by Saturday.