Kathmandu. In Istanbul, Turkey, after heavy rains on Thursday, the administration and local organizations struggled to protect citizens from floods. According to officials, this is the heaviest rainfall in at least 80 years. The death toll has reached three, and four people are missing. Rain began in Turkey’s largest city on Wednesday morning and intensified throughout the day, causing chaos and flash floods. Videos show cars being swept away by the strong floodwaters after the rain. “We are talking about the highest rainfall in Istanbul since records began in 1942,” said Istanbul Governor Davut Gul. Gul’s office said in a statement that the death toll from the flood reached three after a man’s body was found near a park in the Kagithane area (European part). The storm also claimed the life of a 14-year-old boy in the Balat area who was electrocuted while leaning on a pool, officials said. Four others are missing, officials said. An AFP photographer reported that on Thursday, Istanbul municipality teams and firefighters were seen cleaning up schools, football fields, garages, and other places, pumping out water and removing mud from flooded areas. On Wednesday evening, the governor announced that schools across Istanbul would remain closed until Monday. He urged people to stay indoors unless ‘absolutely necessary’ and advised those living on lower floors to ‘spend the night safely on the upper floors.’ Media reports indicate that a building in Beykoz on Istanbul’s Asian side was evacuated for safety reasons after a wall surrounding a three-story complex collapsed. Dramatic videos posted online and compiled by the DHA news agency show a line of parked cars being pushed and swept away in muddy floodwaters in the northern Sariyer district. Another video shows people being pulled to safety through a first-floor window from the fast-flowing water. Turkey’s emergency management agency AFAD has set up an ‘Emergency Desk’ to manage incidents arising from heavy rainfall. By Wednesday evening, 1,277 flood incidents, 15 landslides, 47 people stranded, and two houses collapsed were reported. Heavy rains are expected to continue through the weekend.
