ANKARA, Aug 18 (NNN-ANADOLU) – The death toll of Turkey’s devastating flash floods rose to 77 yesterday, as emergency crews were searching for more victims in the country’s northern Black Sea region.
The floods, caused by heavy rainfall on Aug 11, killed 77 people in three provinces, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD), said, in a statement.
The worst-hit province is Kastamonu, where at least 62 people lost their lives in the town of Bozkurt. Fourteen others died in Sinop, along with one more person in Bartin.
Seven people are treated in hospitals, while 34 people are still unaccounted for.
Rescue efforts are continuing in the flood-hit areas, with some 1,000 vehicles, 8,100 personnel, 21 helicopters and 81 ambulances involved, the emergency agency added.
Torrential rains caused flooding that demolished homes, collapsed bridges, swept away cars and cut power supplies in the region.
On Friday, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visited Bozkurt and announced that the places affected by the floods had been declared disaster zones, and thus are slated for government aid.
The army deployed soldiers in the disaster zone, to help search and rescue operations, while an amphibious construction unit was building bridges, TV footage showed.
Mountainous areas along Turkey’s Black Sea coast are prone to floods in summer, but this time the damage is worse than that in previous years.
Some experts in Turkey said, besides climate change, interference with rivers and improper construction of river banks were among the main reasons of the damage.
“Buildings were constructed near river banks, on the waterfront as well. If you narrow the 400 metre-wide bank to 15, water will mount up to 7-10 metres, and you will have this disaster,” seismology specialist, Ramazan Demirtas said, on his Twitter account.
“Stream beds should not be zoned for construction in any way,” he indicated, calling on the government and local authorities not to hand out housing permits in those areas.
The floodwaters brought chaos to Black Sea provinces, just as the unprecedented wildfires that had raged through southern touristic coastal regions for two weeks, which killed eight people. Firefighters managed to bring some 275 fires under control in several provinces.– NNN-ANADOLU
