Lightning strikes illuminate Istanbul throughout night

ISTANBUL

A strong thunderstorm hit Istanbul and surrounding areas in Turkey’s Marmara region late on Sept. 18, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds following a ‘yellow warning’ issued by the Turkish State Meteorological Service.

The strong winds toppled trees, caused roofs to blow off, disrupted daily life, traffic and public transportation for a short time across Istanbul, as lightning lighted up the night sky of the metropolis with over 16 million population.

The storm began with light rain on Istanbul’s European districts located in the far west of the metropolis such as Silivri, Çatalca, Büyükçekmece, Esenyurt and Çatalca, but also took over the rest of the city under its grip later in the night.

The strong winds mostly tore through residential neighborhoods in the Gaziosmanpaşa and Kağıthane districts, damaging buildings with roofs blown away. Winds toppled trees throughout the districts of Kartal, Ümraniye, and Beykoz.

Security cameras captured the moment a tall tree fell onto cars in the Beykoz district. The tree damaged several cars, while a passerby in front of a grocery narrowly avoided being crushed.

Municipal teams carried out cleaning work across the city after making damage assessment studies.

Meanwhile, parts of the roof of a building in the Sultangazi district peeled off, damaging two cars on the street, while the roof of a house in Çatalca blew off due to the winds.

Officials from the Turkish State Meteorological Service noted that strong winds were not expected to continue but that the Marmara region was set to experience some of the warmest days of the month so far as temperatures were expected to rise above seasonal norms.