Istanbul is dealing with the aftermath of flooding caused by its heaviest rainfall in more than 80 years of records, which killed eight people, The National reports.
One victim was electrocuted and others were swept away by deep floodwater. In the northern district of Ayazaga, a 28-year-old woman told the paper she was trapped on a bus for four and a half hours before residents pulled passengers to safety, while her family's electronics repair shop lost stock worth several million lira.
The report says the city of 16 million has spread rapidly over the past decades, with towers, roads, car parks and shopping centres built over former natural waterways and green space. It argues that this concrete expansion left the city far more exposed to extreme rain, despite the government's climate pledges.
Source: The National
Photo: Exterior of Sultan Ahmed I Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey 002 by Moonik, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Illustrative image of Istanbul.
