The provinces of Bartyn, Kastamonu, Samsun, and Sinop in Turkey’s Black Sea areas were affected by floods and heavy rains. The death toll from floods and mudslides in regions has reached 51, authorities said on August 14, Hurriyet Daily News reports.
Rescuers continue to inspect the rubble of buildings and flooded basements, looking for people.
In some places, the water level rose by 3-4 meters. The flow of water and the garbage picked up by it destroyed houses, bridges and dragged with itself cars. In total, more than 1,700 people were evacuated, five bridges were destroyed.
The affected areas were declared a disaster area.
Thirty-four people died in the province of Kastamonu, six – in Sinop. The search for the missing person in Bartin province continues. Earlier it was reported that this is an 85-year-old woman.
They are also selling to look for 12-year-old twin sisters and their grandparents from Bozkurt. They were inside an 8-story building when it collapsed under the pressure of water. The girls’ mother said that she managed to do so after being instructed by the emergency services to drive the car to the highest possible area. When she returned, the water was already too high for her to approach the house and found shelter next door. For a while, she and her family saw each other from the balconies and talked on the phone, but suddenly the house could not withstand water pressure.
Arriving in Bozkurt, Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu said it was the worst flood he had ever seen.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has canceled the celebration of his party’s 20th anniversary due to the tragedy.
Dozens of villages are still without electricity; several roads are blocked.
As we’ve written previously, in the south of Turkey, almost two weeks struggled with large-scale forest fires which threatened tourist areas.
Floods caused by heavy rains hit the Black Sea region in the north of the country on August 11, leaving 43 people dead in the province of Kastamonu, Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) statement said.
Seven others died in the Sinop province and one person in Bartın province.
Arife Ünal, an 85-year-old woman, drowned and was swept away during the floods in Bartın. Four days of search and rescue efforts ended after finding her lifeless body 600 meters (1,970 feet) from her house.
According to the governor’s office in Bartın, 13 bridges were destroyed in the flood, while at least 45 buildings were heavily damaged.
Rescue and relief operations continue in the flood-hit areas, the statement added.
Some 918 workers in Bartın, 3,547 in Kastamonu, and 1,910 in Sinop are conducting relief work in the affected areas, according to AFAD.
A total of 341 people in Bartın, 1,580 in Kastamonu, and 533 in Sinop were evacuated to safe areas by helicopter in the day; Erdoğan announced the declaration of a disaster area for the places affected.
