Heavy rain flooded streets, homes and shops in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakır on Friday morning, blocking underpasses and bringing traffic to a near standstill, Demirören News Agency (DHA), İhlas News Agency (İHA) and ANKA news agency reported. None of the reports mentioned injuries.
The rain started overnight and grew heavier early in the morning, falling hard for about two hours, İHA reported. Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality said rainfall across the city was above seasonal norms.
Neighbourhoods and roads affected
Part of the Huzurevleri neighbourhood in the Kayapınar district was completely under water, with homes, workplaces, fields and the ground floors of houses flooded and some vehicles left half-submerged, according to İHA. In the Bağlar district the basement wall of an apartment building was damaged, the agency said.
The Park Orman underpass filled with water and was closed to traffic by fire crews, who used a rope to pull out a car that had become stuck, while queues several kilometres long formed on Urfa Boulevard, İHA reported. Shops at the 2nd Industrial Estate in the Yenişehir district were also flooded, and tradespeople pumped the water out themselves.
DHA said water entered some school grounds, the ground floors of businesses and some municipal buses, and that several minor traffic accidents caused vehicle damage. ANKA reported that underpasses on the Şanlıurfa road were also blocked by standing water as people headed to work.
Response and forecast
The metropolitan municipality, its water and sewerage utility DİSKİ and district municipalities were draining water from junctions and roads, clearing debris and unblocking drains, while fire crews responded to flooding reports, according to İHA and ANKA. ANKA said teams from the regional directorate of the General Directorate of Highways (Karayolları) were also working at flooded points.
The municipality urged residents not to go out unless necessary, to take care near standing water and to report problems to its Alo 153 helpline.
The 15th Regional Directorate of Meteorology had forecast strong showers for Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Mardin, Batman, Siirt and Şırnak, with 21 to 50 kilograms of rain per square metre (millimetres) in places, and warned of flooding, lightning, hail and strong winds, DHA reported. ANKA said more rain was expected later in the day.
The storms follow overnight flooding in the south, where Mersin and Adıyaman reported flooded homes and shops.
Sources
- Diyarbakır’da sağanak su baskınına yol açtı, bazı belediye otobüslerine su girdi (DHA via Son Dakika)
- Diyarbakır’da sağanak kent hayatını felç etti (İHA via Son Dakika)
- Diyarbakır’da sağanak su baskınlarına yol açtı (ANKA via Son Dakika)
- Diyarbakır’da sağanak alt geçitleri tıkadı (İHA via Son Dakika)
Photo: Hamdigumus / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
