(The Turkish Post) – The Istanbul flood toll rose to eight across the city and the neighboring province of Kocaeli on Oct. 19, Governor Davut Gül said, as search teams looked for one person still missing and the city began clearing the damage.
Six people died within Istanbul and two in Kocaeli, to the east, whose bodies were swept downstream and recovered in the Pendik district, the governor said. One person remained unaccounted for late on Oct. 19.
Istanbul flood toll rises after record rain
Gül said the rainfall had been the heaviest recorded in Istanbul since measurements began in 1942. The interior minister described it as the worst storm in more than 80 years.
The latest confirmed death was a man whose body was found near the Ayvansaray ferry pier on the Golden Horn, having been reported missing earlier. The governor said emergency teams had rescued about 3,050 people during the flooding and that no one was still waiting to be rescued, though the search for the missing person went on.
The Istanbul flood followed a downpour that closed schools, flooded metro stations and left cars stranded across the city. The first deaths were confirmed last week, when the first deaths from the storm were reported as rain of up to 242 millimeters fell in parts of the city.
Sariyer flooding hits hardest
The district of Sariyer, on the European shore of the Bosphorus, bore the worst of the storm, and Sariyer flooding accounted for most of the damage. Gül said around 3,000 homes and business premises had been badly damaged, most of them there.
Streets in Sariyer turned into torrents at the height of the storm, carrying away vehicles and flooding ground floors. Residents returned over the following days to clear mud and throw out ruined furniture and stock.
Authorities received nearly 20,000 reports of property damage across the city, the interior minister said. Crews from the municipality and the disaster management agency worked to pump out basements, reopen roads and restore power to the areas hit.
Counting the flood damage
The government began assessing the flood damage and arranging support for those affected. The trade minister announced 80 million Turkish lira, about $1.9 million, in assistance for tradespeople and artisans whose shops and workshops were flooded.
Insurers set aside about $40 million for flood claims in Istanbul and five other provinces, an industry body said, an early measure of the scale of the losses. Many ground-floor businesses and basements are underinsured against flooding, which can leave owners to cover much of the cost themselves.
The storm renewed debate over how Istanbul, a city of more than 16 million people, copes with sudden heavy rain. Much of the drainage network dates back decades and struggles with the volume of water that now falls in short, intense bursts. Officials have promised to review the city’s stormwater capacity.
More rain in the forecast
Forecasters warned of further rain in the days after the storm, and authorities urged residents in low-lying areas to stay out of basements and underpasses during downpours. The disaster agency kept crews on standby in the worst-hit districts.
Gül said the priority remained finding the last missing person and helping families return to their homes. He asked residents to follow official warnings and to report damage through the channels set up by the city and the district governorships.
The Istanbul flood is among the deadliest to hit the city in recent years and has drawn attention to the risk that heavier rainfall poses to a place built around steep slopes and narrow streams that fill quickly in a storm.
