Heavy rainfall paralyzes daily life, raises dam levels in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

Heavy rainfall paralyzed daily life in Istanbul starting in the early hours of July 18 and raised dam levels in the province. Meteorologists described it as the heaviest rainfall in 32 years.

Istanbul’s Silivri district received 128 kilograms of rainfall per square meter. Istanbul’s Üsküdar district followed with 108 kilograms, Beykoz with 85 kilograms and Sarıyer with 80 kilograms of rainfall.  

Before the rainfall, the average fill rate for the dams in Istanbul was 73.21 percent. This number rose to 74.06 percent after the rainfall.

Flash flooding saw main roads turned into rivers, with many soaked commuters forced to abandon submerged vehicles. Silivri was the most affected district by the flash floods.

Millions of locals in Istanbul struggled and waded to work in the morning after transport networks were swamped from the early-morning thunderstorm that boomed over the city.

Main streets and basement floors of apartments in Silivri were completely flooded. Many vehicles were also submerged.

Following the flash floods, numbers of crews from municipalities started to work on water removal across the city.       

Locals were stranded in their flats due to the flood water while they waited for the water to be removed.  
One local stated the water level in her house rose to one and a half meters.

“I was here during the flood. My granddaughter was also here, so I tried to get her upstairs. It was very bad. I tried to save the baby first. Then I tried to close the door but it did not close. We’ve been up here for four or five hours,” she said.

Some locals said they found their vehicles meters away from the location where they parked.

Locals also struggled with muddy water damaging their houses.

Some metro lines suspended due to flood water returned to normal service on July 19, the Doğan News Agency reported.

Metro lines between Yenikapı-Otogar and Yenikapı-Kirazlı stations were back in service as of 10:50 a.m. on July 19. 

Water removal works have reportedly been ongoing on the metro line between Yenikapı and Haliç.

Several underpasses, intersections and some metro and bus stops were closed, leaving thousands of pedestrians stranded.