The Black Sea provinces of Turkey struggle to recover from two days of downpours and ensuing floods, which inundated streets, shut down roads and forced evacuations in western and central parts of the region. Two men were reported missing in Kastamonu and Düzce provinces while crews were working to clear the debris left by floods amid sporadic rainfall on Tuesday.
Ministers visited the provinces affected by floods on Monday and Tuesday. Speaking to reporters early Tuesday in Kastamonu, Minister of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change Murat Kurum said a young man was unaccounted for after the floods hit Ikizciler village in the province’s Küre district. A driver of a bulldozer, which was clearing the debris at the bottom of a bridge in a rural part of Düzce, also went missing when the bulldozer overturned, hurling him into the raging waters of a stream.
Kurum said floods hit Kastamonu, Bartın, Sinop and Zonguldak in particular and they were working to “compensate” the material damage citizens suffered. He said the state funnelled about TL 15 million ($900,000) in cash to Kastamonu alone for people affected by the floods. He noted that they set up a coordination center and had crews in place for response to any more flood risks.
“Here, Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) coordinates the efforts with 663 personnel and equipment for search and rescue. Under disaster response plans, we rapidly responded (to the situation) and are working on scaling the damage left by floods,” he said. Kurum also said it was the first time that an early warning system against floods was used in the floods, enabling AFAD to issue a “code red,” the highest emergency state, which allowed authorities and locals to take measures in time. “Everybody here were sent early warnings to their cellphones that guided them to safe areas,” he highlighted.
The minister said precipitation has been high in the region, with “152 kilograms of precipitation per square meter” for Inebolu, one of the most-affected districts in Kastamonu in 24 hours. The precipitation was expected to continue throughout Tuesday though in a lower volume.
Kurum also said that 130 people were evacuated from flood-hit areas and 180 people were accommodated in safer places, from dormitories to guest houses and hotels. Power outages were also reported in 31 villages while floods hampered access to 118 villages whose roads were damaged by floods.
Authorities announced that some roads were completely closed to traffic while others were only partially open due to floods and subsequent landslides. Among the closed roads was a road connecting Zonguldak and Bartın provinces, while a busy road heading to the Bolu Mountain Tunnel at the intersection of roadways connecting the country’s western, eastern and central regions were partially closed amid a landslide.
