Turkish rescuers distributed food and relocated thousands of people into student dormitories Thursday as the death toll from flash floods that swept across several Black Sea regions rose to five.

Heavy storms descended on Turkey's northern stretches just as rescuers reported bringing hundreds of wildfires that have killed eight people since late July under near total control in the south.

Turkey has been grappling with drought and a rapid succession of natural disasters that world scientists believe are becoming more frequent and violent because of climate change.

Heavy rains late Tuesday produced flash floods that turned streets into running rivers and sparked mudslides that buckled roads in three northern regions.

Rescuers were forced to evacuate a regional hospital holding 45 patients -- four of them in intensive care -- in the region around the coastal city of Sinop on Wednesday.

Images on television and social media showed water rising to the level of street signs in some towns.

Turkey's disaster response authority said five people had lost their lives while the search for one person who disappeared in the northern city of Bartin continued.

It said more than 1,000 rescuers were working in the region while Turkish Red Crescent teams were distributing food packages and hot meals.

Officials said more than 5,000 spaces had been allocated in student dormitories to shelter those displaced by the floods.

"We are perhaps facing a disaster that we had not seen in 50 or 100 years," Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said of the flooding and heavy rains on Wednesday.

The disaster struck less than a month after six people died in floods caused by heavy rains in the northeast Rize province.

Turkey's mountainous Black Sea regions frequently experience heavy rains that produce flash floods and mudslides in the summer months.

Officials said that all but three of the nearly 300 fires that had been ravaging Turkey's Mediterranean and Aegean coasts since July 28 have been brought under control.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

30 bn euros to rebuild after German floods: Laschet
Berlin (AFP) Aug 9, 2021
The conservative frontrunner to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor, Armin Laschet, called Monday for up to 30 billion euros ($35 billion) to rebuild after last month's catastrophic floods. Laschet, who leads one of the states hardest hit by the historic deluge, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), told a special session of the regional legislature that victims could count on "solidarity". "The total damage in North Rhine-Westphalia will reach 13 billion euros according to initial estimates," h ... read more