At least 27 people have died in floods and floods that have affected three provinces on Turkey’s northern coast since Wednesday, Turkish authorities reported on Friday (13.08.2021). The previous official report had reported 17 deaths. In addition, there is one missing person, according to the same sources. In a statement, Turkey’s emergency service, AFAD, reported that “25 citizens of Kastamonu and 2 citizens of Sinop lost their lives due to the floods”.
On the other hand, the NTV channel indicated that a hundred people are missing in the flooded regions. The Turkish press also reports that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit one of the most affected regions during the day to show his solidarity with the victims and assess the damage.
Many politicians and associations have called on the Turkish government to take drastic measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as they attribute these disasters to climate change. Torrential rains destroyed homes, roads and several important bridges in Kastamonu and Bartin, leaving hundreds of people isolated in several towns. Thirty municipalities found themselves without an electrical connection.
TV channels show eight-story buildings collapsing as water undermines their foundations and rescue services transporting evacuees by boat. More than 1,700 people were evacuated by land and helicopter and were temporarily housed in student residences in the region. Turkish emergency services mobilized a team of 1,000 search and rescue workers, including construction machinery, ambulances and dogs.
lgc (efe/afp)
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Extreme weather events shock the world
Terrible floods in Europe
Record flooding caused by two days of rain that was expected to fall within two months caused massive damage in Europe, killing at least 209 people in Germany and Belgium. Within hours, small streams became raging torrents that washed away centuries-old communities. Rebuilding homes, businesses and infrastructure will cost billions of euros.
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Extreme weather events shock the world
extreme rainy season
Floods were also present in India and China, causing dams and pipes to collapse and flooding the metro in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou. Dozens of people lost their lives. The showers were intense even during the rainy season. Scientists had predicted that climate change would bring more frequent and heavy rains to the region.
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Extreme weather events shock the world
Record heat waves in the United States and Canada
Intense heat waves are also becoming more frequent, as seen in late June in the US states of Washington and Oregon, and in British Columbia, Canada. Scorching temperatures emerged under a “hot dome”, hot air trapped between high-pressure fronts, causing hundreds of deaths. The town of Lytton recorded a temperature of 49.6 degrees Celsius.
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Extreme weather events shock the world
Colossal forest fires
The heat wave may be over, but the dry conditions are fueling one of the most intense wildfire seasons the region has ever seen. The so-called ‘Bootleg Fire’ in Oregon, which burned an area the size of Los Angeles in just two weeks, is so huge it has created its own microclimate and sent smoke all the way to New York .
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Extreme weather events shock the world
Is the Amazon approaching a “point of no return”?
Further south, central Brazil is experiencing its worst drought on record for 100 years, increasing the risk of fires and therefore more deforestation in the Amazon. Researchers reported that much of the southeast of said green lung has gone from absorbing CO2 to emitting it, bringing the jungle closer to a point of no return.
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Extreme weather events shock the world
“On the Verge of Starvation”
After years of relentless drought, more than a million people in Madagascar are food insecure, and many – starving – are forced to eat cacti, leaves and locusts. If there were no natural disasters, crop failures or conflicts, this country’s dire situation would be the first famine caused solely by climate change.
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Extreme weather events shock the world
More people are fleeing due to natural disasters
The number of people fleeing conflict and natural disasters reached a record high in 2020, with 55 million people moving within their own country’s borders. Add to that some 26 million people who have fled their homelands. Three-quarters of the displaced people have been victims of extreme weather conditions, and this number will continue to rise. (dz)
Author: Martin Kuebler
