By AccuWeather staff writer
Updated Aug. 12, 2021 1:29 PM EDT
Parts of northern Turkey are reeling after a slow-moving storm system unleashed days of heavy rainfall, which resulted in deadly and destructive flooding and mudslides on Wednesday.
Officials said Thursday that at least nine people were killed and at least one person was missing after flooding overwhelmed the provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu, Sinop and Samsun, which are located along the coast of the Black Sea, The Associated Press reported. Homes and bridges were destroyed, and cars were swept away, the AP said.
Some of the worst damage occurred in the town of Bozkurt where one building collapsed and another was damaged, the AP reported, citing the state-run Anadolu Agency. Elsewhere another 13 people suffered injuries following a bridge collapse in Bartin.
AccuWeather Meteorologist Rob Richards said that areas of heavy rain and thunderstorms drenched the northern region of Turkey, and primarily in coastal areas, the past several days.
Richards noted that rain is expected to shift east of where the flooding occurred over the next several days, which would aid in cleanup efforts.
Helicopters were deployed to aid in water rescues, and one hospital in the city of Sinop had to be evacuated due to flooding, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. Turkey's Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli told the news agency that the flooding was "a disaster that we had not seen in 50 or 100 years."
Rainfall totals from Monday and Tuesday in Sinop were about 4.95 inches (125 mm), according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Maura Kelly.
"This section of the coast is also mountainous, so higher rainfall totals are possible into the higher elevations," she said. "Water running down the mountains, in addition to these 48-hour rainfall totals, likely contributed to the flooding."
Kelly noted that the storm had been spinning over the Black Sea to the north since Sunday, so rounds of downpours for different areas depended on which direction it drifted on a given day.
Other 48-hour rainfall totals included 4.84 inches (123 mm) in Giresun from Sunday into Monday and 3.55 inches (90 mm) in Inebolu from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Forecasters say it's not uncommon for Turkey's Black Sea region to get struck with episodes of flooding.
The office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the president spoke with leaders of the affected regions and promised to provide as much assistance as possible, AFP reported.
The deadly flooding is just the latest natural disaster to strike the beleaguered country. Firefighters have been working frantically for the past several weeks amid scorching heat to try to contain hundreds of wildfires that have ignited across parts of Turkey. The wildfires forced thousands to flee their homes and have been blamed for at least eight deaths, according to the AP.
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