Turkish authorities evacuated a hospital on Wednesday and were searching for a missing woman following heavy rains that led to massive floods and landslides in northern Turkey.
This natural disaster, which affected several wet regions bordering the Black Sea, occurred as Turkey was barely recovering from the large fires that killed eight people in the tourist area to the south of its territory.
The 45 patients from a hospital in Sinop province had to be transported to another facility due to rising waters, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said. Rescue teams carried patients in rubber boats that they dragged down a flooded street, according to images released by local authorities.
“This is a disaster that we haven’t experienced in 50 or 100 years, maybe. We have recorded rainfall records in some places, ”said Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli.
Further west, in Bartin province, rescuers were looking for an 80-year-old woman who had been swept away after her home collapsed, the local governor said. One person also died of a heart attack in this province.
The intense rainfall is also the cause of several landslides, one of which caused the partial collapse of a road bridge, according to the health minister. Eight people had to be hospitalized.
In Kastamonu province, entire streets had disappeared under torrents of brown water carrying dozens of vehicles and traffic signs, according to a video released by the Turkish news agency DHA.
“The water has reached three or four meters high in some places and fellow citizens have taken refuge on the roofs of buildings,” Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu told reporters. “Helicopters go from neighboring provinces to disaster areas,” he added.
The flooding was caused by heavy rains that began Tuesday night and continued into the evening.
The northern and northeastern regions of Turkey are regularly affected by deadly floods.