Floodings cost Türkiye $4 billion in five decades, says official

EDİRNE – Demirören News Agency

Over 900 people have died in over 2,600 floods in Türkiye since 1975, Agriculture and Forestry Ministry official Bilal Dikmen has said at the opening meeting of a flood management project, adding that 990,000 hectares of land flooded and more than $4 billion of financial loss occurred in these floods.

“The aim of the project is to prepare the flood management plan in the Meriç-Ergene basin [in the Thrace region of Türkiye] and to develop the capacity of our country,” Dikmen said, adding that the studies for the preparation of a flood management plan in the Meriç-Ergene basin have begun.

The project, which has a budget of 2.75 million euros ($2.80 million) and will last for 36 months, is targeted to be completed in March 2025, according to Dikmen.

“Within the scope of the project, a flood management plan, including flood hazard maps and measures, will be prepared, and flood forecasting and central warning systems will be installed in the basin,” Dikmen added.

“We hope this project will present a roadmap to governor’s offices, municipalities, and other public institutions and organizations.

We see that regional and international cooperation is crucial while planning the opportunities the river offers and the risks it poses,” said Kürşat Kırbıyık, the governor of the northwestern province of Edirne.

The opening meeting of the project for the preparation of the Meriç-Ergene basin flood risk management plan, adopted within the cross-border cooperation program IPA (the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance of the EU), was held in Edirne.

Kırbıyık, Dikmen, Edirne Mayor Recep Gürkan, Bulgarian Consul-General to Edirne Borislav Dimitrov, project director Rıfat Ünal Sayman and representatives of public institutions and organizations in the Thrace region attended the meeting.