Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria have been hit by the worst flooding in recent history, resulting in the deaths of at least 12 people and widespread damage to homes and businesses.
According to Greece’s climate crisis and civil protection minister, Vassilis Kikilias, the flooding is the most extreme phenomenon in terms of the maximum amount of rain in a 24-hour period since records began in the country.
In Turkey, six holidaymakers were swept away by a torrent that raged through a campsite in the north-western Kırklareli province, near the border with Bulgaria. Two bodies were recovered on Tuesday night and three more on Wednesday, with authorities continuing to search for the two missing holidaymakers.
Turkish television footage showed rescuers carrying a young girl and an adult to safety from waters that reached waist-high in some areas. The floods also damaged and forced the closure of a main road, Habertürk TV reported.
Two people were killed in Istanbul, with a 32-year-old Guinean citizen trapped in a ground-floor apartment in the Küçükçekmece district and a 57-year-old woman who died after being swept away. Elsewhere in the city, diners in a restaurant climbed on to the roof to escape the rising waters.
The surging flood waters affected more than 1,750 homes and businesses in the city, according to the governor’s office. They included a line of shops in the İkitelli district, where the deluge dragged parked vehicles and mud into furniture stores.
In eastern Greece, one man died in the coastal town of Volos when a wall collapsed on him, and the body of an 87-year-old woman was discovered in the nearby Pelion area on Wednesday, where a further four people have been reported missing. At least six villages in and around the Pelion mountain range suffered huge damage, local media reported.
Flooding Extremity in Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria“Thousands of shops and buildings have been flooded in Volos and no one is here to help us,” said Vassilis Tsalamouras, a 58-year-old resident of the central Greek city. “I have never seen anything like this.”
Streams in the area overflowed their banks and carried cars into the sea, while rockfalls blocked roads, a small bridge was destroyed and many areas suffered electricity cuts. A hospital and nursing home in Volos were flooded and had to be evacuated.
Bulgaria has also suffered from the flooding, with three people confirmed dead, including a tourist who was swept away by a torrent in the southern resort town of Tsarevo. Authorities have warned people not to drink tap water due to contamination from flood waters and are still searching for two missing people.
The flooding has left a trail of destruction in its wake, with thousands of people affected in Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria. As the region struggles to come to terms with the disaster, concerns are growing about the impact of the climate crisis on the region’s infrastructure and the lives of its people.