According to the emergency and disaster agency of Turkey, the death toll from severe flooding and mudslides on Turkey’s Black Sea coast reached at least 57. Authorities also denied reports that many more were missing.
On Wednesday, torrential rains pounded the Black Sea Provinces of Sinop, Kastamonu, and Bartin. Flooding caused by flooding left many roads impassable and destroyed homes. Turkish disaster agency AFAD reported that 48 people died in Kastamonu and eight in Sinop, while one was killed in Bartin.
According to the agency, eight people were still in hospital.
Late Saturday night, Suleyman Soylu, the Interior Minister, stated that 15 of those who died had not yet been identified. He attacked opposition parties, social media users, and media for claiming that hundreds of people could be missing. He stated that there were 77 missing persons cases in Kastamonu, Sinop. However, this doesn’t necessarily indicate they are dead. He also stated that the previous number for missing persons was 143. This includes duplicate names, some of which were still alive.
Kastamonu’s provincial governor’s office said that reports claiming there were 250-300 unidentified bodies are false. It didn’t address the question of how many people might have been missing due to flooding.
Kastamonu residents have shared photos and names of people who were missing since the floods started. Engin Altay (deputy chairman of Turkey’s main opposition party) said that he was told there were more than 300 missing people, and added that the official numbers seemed to be lower. He said, speaking from Kastamonu just hours before the interior minister spoke.
Floodwaters nearly destroyed the village of Babacay in Sinop. They left behind toppled houses, bridges damaged and rubble. Along with many homes, a five-story apartment building built on a riverbed was also destroyed.
Sniper dogs and rescue teams continued to work tirelessly in trying to find the missing. AFAD reported that 5,820 people, 20 rescue dogs, and 20 helicopters were present at the disaster sites. There were also two search planes.
Around 2,250 people were evacuated from the area by the floods. Many of these people were lifted off rooftops by helicopters. Many people are temporarily being housed in student dormitories.
Climate scientists unequivocally say that climate change is leading to more extreme weather events as the world warms because of the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.
However, experts in Turkey claim that flood damage was also caused by human intervention with rivers and poor construction.
Geologists believe that construction reduced the river bed and alluvial flood plain surrounding the Ezine stream in Kastamonu’s Bozkurt districts. This is where the most severe damage occurred, ranging from 400m (1,312 ft) wide to just 15 m (49 ft). The waterfront was also home to residential buildings.
The stream is only capable of overflowing during severe rains. Residents posted videos showing water flowing downstream in Bozkurt, as roads and buildings were flooded. Ramazan Demirtas (geologist) explained the riverbed narrowing via Twitter, claiming that humans are to blame for this week’s disaster.
Flooding was also a result of days of heavy rain across the Black Sea. According to authorities in Krasnodar, more than 1,400 homes were affected by the storms that hit the region this week. Around 108,000 people lived in 11 settlements without power.
According to the Russian emergency headquarters, more than 1,530 people were evacuated. Anapa, a Black Sea resort city, was one of the most severely affected. Officials warned that heavy rain is expected to continue for at least two more days.
The floods struck on the heels of wildfires in southern Turkey that devastated forests in the seaside provinces of Mugla and Antalya, which are popular with tourists. At least 16 people died in those wildfires — including eight emergency workers as their firefighting plane crashed Saturday — and thousands of residents and tourists were forced to flee.
