Officials issue more flood warnings for İstanbul

Speaking at a press conference at the İstanbul Municipality's Disaster Coordination Center (AKOM), Environment Minister Veysel Eroğlu highlighted that meteorology experts were warning of heavy rains for Friday. “All citizens, relevant state agencies and municipalities in the cities of Düzce, Sakarya, Kocaeli, İstanbul and Tekirdağ should absolutely be on their guard,” he said.

Flash floods killed 31 people in and around İstanbul on Wednesday. Authorities say the downpour marked the heaviest rainfall in the area in 80 years. Eight people are still missing. In yesterday's press conference Eroğlu said Wednesday's rainfall amounted to an hourly rate of 227.6 kilograms of rain per square meter in İstanbul's İkitelli area, where most of the deaths occurred. Eroğlu said in 48 hours, more than one third of the annual average rainfall for the area had fallen.

Eroğlu expressed his condolences for those killed in Wednesday's floods and his wish for the injured to get well as quickly as possible.

Public Works Minister Mustafa Demir and Interior Minister Beşir Atalay also arrived in İstanbul to see the scope of the disaster on Wednesday evening.

Eroğlu said he had toured the Silivri, Selimpaşa, Çatalca and İkitelli areas in the early hours of the morning. “There has been a major disaster and major damage. Our government will do its best to heal these wounds,” he said.

He said TL 1 million had been allocated for Silivri and Çatalca separately through the Prime Ministry's Aid Fund. He said damage assessment work was still underway in the area. “This is indeed a major disaster. I would like to point out that there have been some mistakes made here.

Construction debris has been disposed of in some riverbeds, in some places these riverbeds have been completely narrowed. In other some places buildings in the form of shanty houses have been erected on riverbeds. When there is no place for a river the flow, it overflows and causes flooding. This is why we absolutely have to take the necessary measures.” He said no structure should ever be erected near a riverbed.

Flood disaster wreaks havoc at the heart of İstanbul. »» Click over the above image to see high resolution version.

In the press conference, İstanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş also reiterated that the scale of the disaster has been huge. He said the prime minister was watching the developments very closely. Hundreds of homes and offices were flooded because of the heavy rains on Wednesday night. People who left their homes worked throughout the night to clear the flood. The worst hit areas included the Bağcılar, Arnavutköy, Esenler, Merter, Bakırköy, Küçükçekmece, Hadımköy, Başakşehir and Bahçelievler districts.

Disaster relief efforts

As part of efforts to tend to the injured, tents and ad-hoc kitchens were set up. Some schools in the Çatalca and Silivri areas were assigned for this purpose. Tankers of potable water were sent to the area. Fire trucks worked all day in the Silivri city center and the Selimpaşa neighborhood to clear the mire that had formed after the floods. Cranes removed approximately 100 vehicles from the sea in the Selimpaşa neighborhood, where they had been swept away by flood waters.

Highway opened

Meanwhile the Basın Ekspres road that connects the TEM and E-5 highways was closed to traffic on both sides until late afternoon yesterday. Municipality workers were trying to clear the water which had accumulated in this part of the road. Officials were also conducting search and rescue work at a truck garage in İkitelli where 13 people were killed by the raging waters on Wednesday. The road was opened to traffic, though under heavy traffic police supervision, in the afternoon.

Increase in floods, weather calamities

Mithat Kadıoğlu, a professor from the İstanbul Technical University's meteorological engineering department, commented on the aftermath, saying the number of meteorological disasters has tripled three times between the years 1960 and 2000. “Research shows that economic losses have increased ninefold in the past 40 years.” He said such disasters should be included in insurance policies. He listed the reasons behind the increase in the frequency of meteorological disasters, saying they included, “Uncontrolled urbanization, construction of highways and bridges without proper calculations, architectural and engineering mistakes, allowing construction near riverbeds, lack of control over buildings that have no permits, failure in mapping flood beds, failure to inform the public about the risk of possible natural disasters, the general public's indifference to warnings, drying wetlands and the houses being built on these areas, shortcomings of early tracking systems and allowing construction of summer houses on coastal strips.”

Bodies of dead delivered to relatives

Meanwhile, the bodies of those killed in Wednesday's floods were delivered to their families. Funeral ceremonies were held for some yesterday, while some services will be held for the remaining victims today.