Torrential rains in the Black Sea coastal provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu, Sinop and Samsun on Wednesday caused flooding and mudslides that destroyed homes and buildings — prompting more than 1,700 people to be evacuated across the region.
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily | AUGUST 14th 2021
According to Turkey’s emergency and disaster agency, the resultant death toll from the coastal deluge being felt along the country’s Northern regions has risen up to at least 44 and rising, as many people are still hospitalised or missing.
The severe flooding had been prompted by days of torrential rains that battered the areas in the Black Sea provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu and Sinop. Many homes were damaged, and at least five bridges had been destroyed in the extraordinary disaster.
“This is unprecedented. There is no power. The mobile phones were dead. There was no reception. You couldn’t receive news from anyone,” said Ilyas Kalabalik, a resident of Bozkurt – a town and district found in the Kastamonu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, which was hit worst by the floods.
All across the region, around 2,250 had been evacuated according to authorities. Many had to be airlifted from rooftops, where they stood to avoid floodwaters, and are currently being housed temporarily in various places, including student dormitories. 34 of the recorded deaths had been in Kastamonu, where the deluge was particularly deadly.
Anger has been rampant among many people living around these provinces, due to the lack of proper government warning prior to the outbreak of these floods.
“They told us to move our cars but they didn’t tell us to save ourselves or our children,” said Arzu Yucel, a resident in the Kastamonu province. “If they had, I would have taken them and left in five minutes. They didn’t even tell us that the river was overflowing.”
In some parts of the region, the water had even risen by as high as four meters, according to Emergency Services. This had been before the waters subsided and spread out across the region over 240 kilometres.
“I am 75 years old and have never seen anything like this,” said Adem Senol, a resident of the Batin province. “The water rose higher than the level of our windows, it broke down our door, even a wall. It was a powerful stream, enough to sweep away houses.”
