Flood hits Black Sea province of Samsun

SAMSUN

AA Photo

Flash floods caused by heavy rainfall hit the Black Sea province of Samsun on the first day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday Aug. 8. The flood mainly affected Samsun’s Atakum district, damaging several houses and workplaces.

The heavy rain reportedly started at around 1:00 a.m., causing citizens to wake up to first day of Eid-al Fitr with flood water in their houses, especially on basement floors.

Many houses and establishments were damaged, and roads were blocked when canalization water and rivers in the region overflowed due to heavy rain.

The main highway between Samsun and Sinop provinces has been also affected by rain, and transportation on the railway between the city and Atakum was halted due to mud the flood waters brought.

The owners of the flooded flats and municipality teams immediately began working to drain the water filling the places.

Citizens in Samsun complained to the Samsun Municipality about the flood while Mayor Yusuf Ziya Yılmaz said they had repeatedly warned people not to live on basement floors.

“The citizens keep on living on basement floors despite our warnings. We say floors below sea level should not be built,” Yılmaz said. “We got off lightly. We immediately did everything necessary.”

Turkey’s General Directorate of Meteorology has warned locals that rain would intensely continue in the late hours of the day.