Turkish cities grappling with heavy rainfall, downpour
ISTANBUL
With Türkiye’s largest city Istanbul grappling with heavy rainfall and flooding over the weekend, the Turkish State Meteorological Service has issued yellow-coded warnings for 43 of all 81 provinces, while four provinces have received a rare orange warning.
Following the bureau’s “orange alert,” which signifies a possibility of damage and loss in a dangerous weather situation, the southern provinces of Adana, Hatay, and Osmaniye, along with the northern province of Samsun, began experiencing intense rainfall. In the earthquake-hit cities of Adana and Hatay, where a large number of earthquake survivors still reside in tents and container houses, local authorities took precautionary measures, heeding the warnings.
After a summer of record-breaking temperatures, the rainy and overcast weather that has been affecting almost the entire country for the last week has caused flooding in Istanbul as well. Initially affecting the European side of the city and then spreading to the Asian side, the heavy rainfall led to the inundation of numerous homes and businesses over the weekend.
In the Maltepe district, a sudden downpour turned streets and underpasses into rivers, while a bus was stranded for an extended period due to the accumulation of water on the road.
"The ongoing rainfall, in line with the meteorological predictions, is expected to be particularly heavy around the Bosphorus area. The rainfall is predicted to intensify and become heavy starting from the morning of Oct. 1," Governor Davut Gül said.
In the Esenyurt district, heavy showers led to the overflow of a stream, causing the collapse of a retaining wall in the area. While no casualties or property damage were reported, municipal teams were dispatched to remove the debris from the road.
Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu also issued a warning to Istanbul residents, cautioning that some parts of the city could receive rainfall exceeding 100 kilograms per square meter.
