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As rescuers report that hundreds of wildfires in the south have been brought under control, heavy rain has just fallen in the northern part of the country.
As the death toll from flash floods that swept several areas of the Black Sea rose to 11 people, Turkish rescuers distributed food on Thursday and moved thousands to student dormitories.
Just as rescuers reported that hundreds of wildfires that had killed eight people since late July were almost completely brought under control in the south, heavy rain fell in northern Turkey.
Turkey has been struggling to deal with droughts and a series of rapid natural disasters. Scientists around the world believe that due to climate change, these natural disasters are becoming more frequent and serious.
The storm that swept across from the Balkans on Tuesday night turned the streets into turbulent rivers and triggered mudslides. Roads bend and destroyed bridges in three mountainous areas along Turkey’s rugged Black Sea coast.
The emergency services said that the water level in some areas once rose to 4 meters (13 feet), then sank and spread to an area more than 150 miles (240 kilometers) wide.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli warned on Wednesday that the region is facing “a disaster that we have not seen in 50 or 100 years”.
On Wednesday, rescuers were forced to evacuate a hospital near the coastal city of Sinop. The hospital accommodated 45 patients, four of whom were in the intensive care unit.
Pictures on TV and social media showed that the trapped villagers were pulled down from the roof by a helicopter, and the bridge collapsed under the action of the turbulent water below.
According to the Turkish disaster relief authorities, 10 people were killed in the northern province of Kastamonu and 1 in the neighboring Sinop area.
Rescuers are still looking for people missing in the northern city of Badin.
More rain
The office of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had a phone call with the person in charge of the affected area on Thursday and promised to provide all available state assistance.
Emergency authorities stated that there are more than 1,000 rescuers working in the area, and the Turkish Red Crescent Society team is distributing food packs and hot meals.
Officials said that more than 5,000 places have been allocated in student dormitories to accommodate people displaced by flooding.
Due to the collapse of masts and power lines, electricity and mobile phone services were interrupted in dozens of villages.
Anadolu National News Agency said that rescuers are paying attention to a partially collapsed four-story apartment building and another completely collapsed apartment building next to it.
The image shows that parts of the two riverside buildings are dumped in the raging brown water below.
The Meteorological Department predicts that for the rest of the week, rain will continue to hit the affected areas.
The disaster occurred less than a month after six people were killed in floods caused by heavy rains in the northeastern province of Rize.
Turkey’s mountainous Black Sea region often encounters heavy rains in summer, causing flash floods and mudslides.
Officials said that since July 28, of the nearly 300 fires that have occurred along the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts of Turkey, all but three have been brought under control.
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