At least seven people have been killed and dozens are still missing after torrential rains hit Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria on Sept. 5, prompting flash flooding.
In Turkey, two people died in the city of Istanbul after flash flooding swept through the streets in the districts of Arnavutkoy, Basaksehir, and Kucukcekmece, leaving many of them completely submerged, according to Turkish Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya.
The country’s minister of health, Fahrettin Koca, said 12 people also sustained injuries because of the flooding, and the Istanbul Municipality stated that about 1,754 houses and workplaces were affected by the heavy rain.
The flooding also temporarily shut down some subway stations, a hospital, and some main roads, officials said.
More than 2,000 emergency personnel were deployed overnight to help locals stranded in their homes, businesses, and vehicles, according to officials.
Mr. Yerlikaya said that elsewhere in the country, two people were killed and four others were missing after flash flooding swept into a campsite in Kirklareli province, which is located near the border with Bulgaria.
He wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, later on Sept. 5 that search teams were still attempting to locate the missing people.
Record-Breaking Rainfall
Elsewhere, in Greece, one person was killed and at least five people were reported missing following the flash flooding, with the central town of Volos, the nearby mountain region of Pilion, and the resort island of Skiathos receiving record amounts of rainfall in just hours.Greece’s weather service said a Pilion region village received 75.4 centimeters (nearly 30 inches) of rain late on Sept. 5, the highest level recorded since at least 2006.
The average annual rainfall in the Athens region is about 40 centimeters (15.75 inches), it noted.
At one point in Volos, residents ignored orders to not drive, prompting the city’s mayor to wade through flooded streets to plead with motorists to go home.
Greece’s fire service stated that a 51-year-old Albanian national died after a wall buckled and collapsed on him. Local media identified him as a cattle breeder who was trying to reach his animals.
“The boy was found in the car,” he said. “We’re still looking for the dad.”
The flash flooding and heavy rain in Greece comes on the heels of wildfires that hit the nation in recent weeks, killing 20.
2 Dead in Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, two people died in the coastal town of Tsarevo after it received a historical amount of rainfall, the Ministry of the Interior announced, according to local reports.The intense downpours, which continued for more than 24 hours, left rivers overflowing, streets flooded, and roads shut down, prompting the evacuation of residents.
A state of emergency was later declared in Tsarevo, according to local reports, and residents have been warned to not drink tap water because of contamination from floodwaters.
Rescue teams are still searching for at least three people who are reportedly missing in the area.
Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov held a crisis meeting with officials on Sept. 5. At a press conference following the meeting, he told reporters that the two people who died were a man and a woman.
Flash flooding also hit Spain on Sept. 4, killing at least three people while three more were missing amid record-breaking rains.
The sudden downpours turned streets into rivers of mud, heavily affecting regions such as Madrid, Castile-La Mancha, Catalonia, and Valencia, while some areas experienced strong hail.
Among the victims was a young man who was trapped in a lift that filled up with water, and another male was trapped inside his vehicle as it flooded, according to police.
A 50-year-old man was also found by police floating in a river near his home in the town of Camarena, officials said.
