At least 14 people lost their lives, and five went missing after floods caused by torrential rains wreaked havoc in Türkiye’s two southeastern provinces, already devastated by last month’s earthquakes, officials said Wednesday.
Two citizens were killed in the town of Tut in southeastern Adıyaman province, where surging waters swept away a container home where a group of earthquake survivors were living, Governor Numan Hatipoğlu said. The floods in neighboring Şanlıurfa province killed four others, Governor Salih Ayhan told private broadcaster HaberTürk.
Later during the day, the number of people who lost their lives in Şanlıurfa has risen to 11.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, examining the areas devastated by the floods in Adıyaman, said, “Four citizens were caught in the flood waters; one of them is a 1.5-year-old child. Unfortunately, one person passed away.”
Earlier in the morning, Tokat’s Governor, Numan Hatipoğlu, confirmed that one person had died. Four others were reported missing due to a flooded garden container in the Tut district of Adıyaman, which received heavy rainfall. The flood water also caused traffic disruption on central Atatürk Boulevard and other streets and avenues.
Heavy rain also flooded the intensive care unit at Şanlıurfa Eyyübiye Training and Research Hospital while patients are said to have been transferred to another hospital. In addition, at least six people have been reported stuck due to floods near the Abide Köprülü Junction in Şanlıurfa. Two persons, said to be firefighters, were pulled out of the water under the junction and transported to the hospital by ambulance.
Schools in Şanlıurfa were canceled on Wednesday due to the rain, which is expected to continue throughout the city. The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), police, gendarmerie, and municipality teams continue to evacuate areas with a risk of flooding.
The Turkish State Meteorological Service (TSMS) published its weather forecast report for March 14-20, issuing an orange-code warning for the southeastern region, which recently was ravaged by a pair of powerful earthquakes. The provinces of Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Malatya, Kahramanmaraş, Mardin, Sivas, Şanlıurfa and Kilis were among the areas marked orange for a possible extreme downpour.
At the same time, strong wind and icing in Şanlıurfa and Adıyaman caused minor air traffic disruptions. For example, according to the information from Anadolu Agency (AA), an AnadoluJet flight from Ankara to Adıyaman could not land at Adıyaman Airport due to strong wind, and the plane, after touring in the air for a while, returned to Ankara Esenboğa Airport. Similarly, an AnadoluJet Ankara-Şanlıurfa passenger plane landed at Gaziantep Airport, while a Turkish Airlines plane on the Istanbul-Şanlıurfa route landed at Diyarbakır Airport.
Soylu, during his statement, warned citizens to stay away from the areas where the water overflows, noting everyone should heed warnings issued by the authorities in the relevant places.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who held a Cabinet meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Wednesday, wished mercy for those who lost their lives in floods in the region already reeling from the disastrous Feb. 6 earthquakes that left over 48,000 people dead.
