The country was barely recovering from deadly fires. At least nine people have died in flooding in northern Turkey, authorities said Thursday (August 12th).
“Nine of our fellow citizens have died due to flooding in Kastamonu province. The search continues to try to locate a missing person ”, said the government agency responsible for natural disasters (AFAD), in a press release. The previous balance sheet reported five deaths.
The floods, which mainly affected the provinces of Kastamonu, Bartin and Sinop, located on the shores of the Black Sea, were caused by intense rainfall overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday. Water levels had risen up to four meters high in some towns on Wednesday, authorities said, and the streets of entire towns had turned into torrents, carrying cars and traffic signs.
“This is a catastrophe that we have not experienced for fifty or a hundred years, perhaps. We have recorded precipitation records in places ”, said Wednesday, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Bekir Pakdemirli. Heavy rains were also the cause of several landslides, one of which caused the partial collapse of a road bridge. Eight people had to be hospitalized.
Serial natural disasters
More than 1,000 rescuers were mobilized on Thursday to provide assistance to the victims, according to AFAD. Regions in the north and northeast of Turkey are regularly affected by destructive floods.
Many scientists are establishing a link between global warming, caused by human activity, and the increasingly frequent occurrence of such extreme weather events. Turkey has been the scene of several natural disasters in recent months, including episodes of severe drought and severe forest fires between late July and early August.
After this black series, several politicians and associations urged the government to take radical measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Turkey has not ratified the 2015 Paris climate agreement.