Status: 08/14/2021 1:57 p.m.
It is the worst flooding in Turkey in decades. At least 40 people have died and more than 100 are missing. More heavy rain is forecast.
For Turkey it is day 18 in crisis mode. In the south and southwest of the country, they are urgently waiting for rain. It could finally bring lasting relaxation to the areas that have been fighting forest fires since the end of July, the worst in the country’s history.
In the north, on the other hand, people can hardly save themselves from rain in the truest sense of the word. “As soon as I woke up in the morning, it was raining like crazy. I live right behind the market square. From there the tide moved on us at breakneck speed and carried all sorts of things in front of it,” says a man from the Sinop province . “I ran out and to my shop, everything was already devastated. When I came back, the market square was devastated. Now we have a power outage and no tap water. That makes everything even more difficult.”
In many places, a brown avalanche is literally pushing its way through the streets, swallowing everything that lies on its way.
Image: dpa
More than 100 missing people
Turkish television shows pictures of a brown avalanche that pushes through the streets and simply swallows everything that lies on its way. Towns and villages, including hospitals, have been evacuated; some people have been brought to safety from roofs in helicopters and boats, 2200 in total. Bridges have been destroyed, streets washed away. The number of deaths is increasing, more than 100 people are said to be still missing. There is still no overview of the damage. But they are immense.
During a visit to the region, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan explains that 120 teams are already in the process of recording the damage. They are also working on getting the infrastructure going again. “We are now rolling up our sleeves immediately to give a new one as soon as possible to the citizens who lost their homes in this flood disaster,” said Erdogan. “We cannot bring back the people who have lost their lives. But our state is strong enough and determined to make up for all other losses. Nobody should doubt that.”
A cow is rescued in the Turkish province of Kastamonu – after heavy floods and mudslides.
Image: dpa
Criticism of the state
A swipe at the Internet campaign #HelpTurkey (German: Help Turkey). During the forest fires, users shared the hashtag millions of times. Erdogan’s spokesman saw it as an action from abroad that should make Turkey look weak. Now it is Erdogan who has started a fundraising campaign for the flood victims.
Online critics ask whether the state is too weak to help them. “Thank God there is warm food, soup and such. The Red Crescent has set up field kitchens. In some places there is a lack of dry clothes. But everyone has relatives in the area,” says a man from the Sinop region on Turkish television. “You help each other, also with the accommodation. There are currently three or four families living in each apartment. Those who could have left the district. Others have found accommodation in student dormitories or in the district hospital.”
“As in many parts of the world, our country is also struggling with natural disasters,” said Erdogan after the Friday prayer in front of a mosque. “This is not only happening in our country, but also the USA, Canada, Germany and many other countries in Europe are struggling with all sorts of disasters.”
As much rain in one day as usual in six months
On the Black Sea, people are used to a lot of rain and floods. But this time it rained as much in 24 hours as it usually did in six months. Istanbul’s Ahmet Dursun Kahraman, chairman of the Chamber of Environmental Engineers, addresses climate change, which Turkey is only now discussing more intensely: “The climate crisis is partially preparing for destruction. But it is only through us that it becomes a catastrophe.”
He criticizes the government. The political will is not based on science or nature, but on capital. “If the state lets build further and closer to river beds, forces streams with concrete into canals and massively intervenes in nature with hydropower plants, then we can now see what can happen at the Black Sea.”
More rain is predicted for several of the affected regions in the north on the Black Sea. In the south and southwest, however, it remains dry and hot. Turkey remained in crisis mode.
Turkey in permanent crisis mode – first forest fires then floods
Karin Senz, ARD Istanbul, August 14, 2021 1:40 p.m.