Death toll in devastating flash floods in northern Turkey rises to 17

Duvar English 

The death toll of the flash floods in Turkey's Black Sea provinces rose to 17 on Aug. 12, authorities said, as efforts to evacuate those in disaster-hit zones continue. 

Fifteen people were killed in Kastamonu and another two were killed in Sinop, officials said. 

There was also flooding in the Black Sea province of Sinop. One person died from a heart attack amid the flooding in Bartın. 

The Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said the evacuation of people from impacted areas by helicopters was continuing, adding that there were road closures due to collapsed and damaged bridges.

Television footage showed the floods dragging dozens of cars and heaps of debris along the streets. The heavy rainfall in the region is expected to ease on Aug. 13, according to data from the weather authority, AFAD said.

The floods also damaged power infrastructure, the Energy Ministry said, adding that some 10,000 households were currently without electricity as a precaution.

Turkey's north is prone to flash floods in the summer when rains are particularly strong. Last year at least five people were killed in floods in the region.

Turkey has also battled raging wildfires that have burnt tens of thousands of hectares of forest along its southern coast for the last two weeks.

Commenting on the floods, the mayor of Kastamonu's Azdavay district, Osman Nuri Civelek, said that they haven't seen anything like this before. 

"We are watching in shock," Civelek said. 

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