Torrential rains on Sunday triggered floods in the Mediterranean Turkish province of Antalya. No casualties were reported, but the floods disrupted daily life, particularly in Kumluca and Finike, two districts of Antalya. Several buildings were inundated when downpours caused the streams to overflow their banks.
In Kumluca, local authorities used loudspeakers to warn locals to stay at home or in safe places on higher ground. Floodwaters carried away several cars while bulldozers waded through inundated streets to save people trapped in their cars. Power outages also affected the district. In Kumluca and Finike, schools were closed on Monday due to the floods.
Tekin Erdemir, district governor for Kumluca, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday that torrential rains that intensified on Sunday evening led to floods in several neighborhoods and many houses and shops. A bridge also collapsed due to the floods, while some roads in Kumluca were damaged. Authorities said a road connecting Kumluca to Finike was partially flooded. In Finike, floodwaters wreaked havoc in four neighborhoods while authorities evacuated locals stranded in their residences.
Ertok Ural was driving to the district of Demre from Kumluca with his wife when the floodwaters covered the road. “It was very dense. It was night, and I could not notice the floodwaters at first. The car was almost submerged. We were scared,” Ural, stranded on the road and still waiting for the road to be opened on Monday, told Ihlas News Agency (IHA). Ahmet Uluer, a resident, said he woke up at night over a warning from loudspeakers. “It called people living on the first floor to evacuate and climb higher floors. I looked out of the window and saw another car (drifted by floodwaters) on my car, and both were being carried away,” he said.
