Ten people have died and seven have gone missing in flash floods following heavy rainfall on Tuesday in Turkey’s earthquake-stricken southeastern provinces of Şanlıurfa (Rîha) and Adıyaman (Semsûr).
Four people drowned in the rushing flood waters in Şanlıurfa (Rıha), while another five were discovered dead in a basement flat. Another man was struck by lightning in the province, and remains hospitalised in a critical condition, the daily Sözcü reported.
In Adıyaman, a survivor of the 6 February earthquakes drowned in a temporary dwelling that was washed away by flood waters.
Heavy rains also affected Malatya (Meletî) and Kahramanmaraş (Mereş), where tent cities housing earthquake survivors were flooded.
Residents of Şanlıurfa shared videos of cars floating on flooded roads, and the emergency room in a state hospital was shown under several inches of floodwater.
Turkey’s General Directorate of Meteorology released a last-minute warning saying that there will be heavy rains in six provinces in the earthquake region until late evening on Wednesday.
The governor of Şanlıurfa Salih Ayhan warned citizens on social media that the rainfall could cause canals and rivers to break their banks, advising residents living near watercourses and in basement flats to evacuate their homes. Ayhan also ordered that all schools close for the day.
Six people, including firefighters, were trapped in a flooded underpass in the province. Divers went in to look for the victims, after one of the six managed to swim to the surface, Mezopotamya Agency reported.
Residents of the province have gathered near crossroads between Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep and are protesting against Şanlıurfa Mayor Zeynel Abidin Beyazgül, who was elected under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). One of Beyazgül’s bodyguards is rumoured to have pulled a gun on the protesters, leading to further protests, Mezopotamya reported.
The province’s archaeology and mosaics museums were also flooded, causing damage to the millenia-old historic artifacts and works of art.
