One woman killed in flood in Turkey’s Black Sea

RİZE

One woman was killed and another was wounded in the flood that hit the Black Sea province of Rize, Rize Governor Erdoğan Bektaş said on Sept. 28.

Governor Bektaş held a press conference after the flash flood that was caused heavy rainfall, describing the flood as a “disaster.”

Bektaş said a road in Rize’s Çayeli district was cut off from two points in a way that could not be prevented.

“Without the rain stopping, the problem cannot be solved and triggers even bigger landslides sometimes. One woman from Çayeli’s Gürpınar village lost her life and her mother was rescued with injuries. We could not reach the wounded by land or air. A helicopter flew a few sorties but it could not get to them,” he said.

Bektaş also said that field work done by locals without permission from officials caused difficulties.

“When locals rent a field machine and enter a field without permission or technical assistance, they trigger a large landslide. For example, a road someone made for a house in the Kaptanpaşa Village triggered a great landslide. We need water management. If we do not manage the water, we cannot manage anything. We are not going to interfere outside of our technical and scientific expertise. We will not play with waterways. Water is not a joke,” he said.

Bektaş also said Rize received 164 liters of rainfall per square meter in the last 24 hours, adding that if necessary precautions were not taken, two districts would totally be destroyed by floods and landslides.

The flood damaged numbers of houses and fields. Many people were left stranded due to its effect on roads and bridges.

The Turkish Red Crescent was immediately dispatched to the scene to help stranded locals as they sent food aid with a telpher.

Following the flood, work has begun to detect damaged houses. Heartbreaking images have emerged from the aftermath of the flood.

Cevat Ketenci, 85, went to Rize’s coast to pick up wood that was washed ashore due to flood waters in the early hours of Sept. 29. Ketenci said they needed the wood in order to survive the winter.