{"id":129059,"date":"2026-10-16T02:28:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T23:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/?p=129059"},"modified":"2026-10-16T02:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T23:28:07","slug":"istanbul-floods-kill-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/2026\/10\/16\/istanbul-floods-kill-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Istanbul floods kill 2 as up to 242 mm of rain closes schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

(The Turkish Post) –<\/strong> Istanbul floods killed two people on Oct. 14 after torrential rain and strong winds hit the city of about 16 million, flooding homes, roads and metro stations and forcing the governor’s office to close schools across the city on Oct. 15.<\/p>\n

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality said rainfall in Beykoz, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, reached 242 millimeters, and described the figures as among the highest the city has recorded since 1985. Officials expected more rain on Oct. 15, mainly on the Asian side.<\/p>\n

Two deaths in the Istanbul floods<\/h2>\n

A 14-year-old boy, identified by his initials M.I., was electrocuted after stepping into a puddle in Cukurbostan Park in the historic Fatih district. The governor’s office said he was taken to hospital unconscious and died despite efforts to save him. An investigation was opened into the death.<\/p>\n

In the Ayazaga neighborhood of Sariyer, a 34-year-old man identified as S.Y. slipped while trying to cross floodwater on Dereboyu Street and struck his head on the curb. Residents pulled him from the water and an ambulance took him to Seyrantepe Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, where he died. A second investigation was opened.<\/p>\n

Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz offered condolences to the family of the boy who died in Fatih. “Please let us heed the warnings issued by our official institutions,” he wrote.<\/p>\n

Rainfall totals in Beykoz, Eyupsultan and Sariyer<\/h2>\n

According to the municipality, Eyupsultan received 190.5 millimeters and Sariyer 187.9 millimeters. Many points around the Bosphorus and in the northern and central parts of the European side recorded between 100 and 230 millimeters. A separate station reading for Omerli in Beykoz put the total at 193.84 millimeters.<\/p>\n

The city’s Disaster Coordination Center (AKOM) said on the morning of Oct. 15 that another 50 to 75 millimeters could fall in some areas by 10 a.m., with winds of 50 to 80 kilometers per hour. The center said wet weather could last until Oct. 19, with heavier rain expected again on Oct. 17.<\/p>\n

Thousands of emergency calls during the Istanbul rain<\/h2>\n

The Istanbul governor’s office said emergency lines received 2,518 calls linked to the Istanbul floods between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Oct. 14. They included 1,277 reports of flooding, 47 people trapped, 15 landslides, 13 fallen trees and two roofs torn off. Officials also recorded damage reports for 808 homes, 280 workplaces and 76 vehicles.<\/p>\n

About 8,000 personnel and 2,000 vehicles and construction machines were deployed, and the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) set up a crisis desk at its Istanbul office. Provincial Health Director Abdullah Emre Guner said 378 ambulance teams and five national medical rescue teams were in the field.<\/p>\n

In Ayazaga, about 200 workers on a night shift were trapped by rising water on Kemerburgaz Street and later evacuated. Rescuers used the bucket of an excavator to lift stranded people near the Merter metro station and to pull a woman from her car in an underpass in Bahcelievler. Water collected in the Esenler, Zincirlikuyu and Topkapi metro stations.<\/p>\n

During the Istanbul floods, the Kagithane stream overflowed and flooded the historic Sadabad Mosque on its bank, reaching the lower part of the pulpit. In Kucukcekmece, wind tore lead sheets from a minaret, which fell onto a parked car. No one was hurt.<\/p>\n

Flights diverted, schools closed in five provinces<\/h2>\n

The Transport and Infrastructure Ministry said 43 planes that could not land at Istanbul Airport were diverted. Thirty-nine went to airports in T\u00fcrkiye, including 16 to Ankara and 10 to Izmir, and four went abroad, to Tehran, Athens and Burgas. At Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport, departures were halted at 9:42 p.m. because of wind and wind shear.<\/p>\n

Because of the Istanbul floods, schools were closed on Oct. 15 in Istanbul, Yalova, Sakarya, Zonguldak and Kocaeli. The Istanbul governor’s office gave administrative leave to public employees with disabilities, pregnant staff, veterans and some working mothers, and banned motorcycles and other two-wheeled vehicles from traffic from 9 p.m. on Oct. 14 until further notice.<\/p>\n

Governor Davut Gul said the rain would affect the whole province overnight and the Asian side in particular on Oct. 15. “We strongly ask that they do not leave their homes tomorrow unless it is necessary,” he said of the city’s residents. He also asked people living in basement flats to spend the night on higher floors and to stay away from stream beds and underpasses.<\/p>\n

Government response to the Istanbul floods<\/h2>\n

Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum said the government had followed the Istanbul floods on the ground from the first moment and that damage assessments had begun under the governor’s coordination. The Turkish State Meteorological Service had issued yellow warnings for 42 provinces, including Istanbul, and orange warnings for Bursa, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Yalova, Zonguldak and Duzce.<\/p>\n

Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus urged residents to follow official guidance. “The relevant institutions of our state are at their posts to ensure the safety of life and property of our citizens,” he said.<\/p>\n

Traffic congestion in Istanbul reached 89 percent at 6:11 p.m. on Oct. 14, according to the municipality’s traffic data, and eased on the morning of Oct. 15 after schools closed. Residents can report flooding to the municipality’s 153 hotline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two people died in Istanbul as torrential rain flooded homes, roads and metro stations on Oct. 14. Schools were closed in Istanbul and four other provinces on Oct. 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[261,260,257,54,256,259,258],"class_list":["post-129059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-turkiye","tag-afad","tag-beykoz","tag-floods","tag-headline","tag-istanbul","tag-sariyer","tag-weather"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129059"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129084,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129059\/revisions\/129084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishpost.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}