38 dead as floods ravage Turkey's northern coast
The floods in Turkey's Black Sea region forced more than 1,700 people to evacuate, many of whom are now sleeping in student dorms.
At least 38 people are dead from flash floods and mudslides caused by torrential rain in Turkey’s coastal provinces, authorities said on Friday, following fast-spreading wildfires that wreaked havoc on the country’s south.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted that 32 people have died in northern Turkey's Kastamonu province and six in Sinop province since Wednesday.
Flood-battered towns across the Black Sea region were without electricity on Friday, following what Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu described as "worst flood disaster" he had ever seen. Television footage showed residents stranded on rooftops and partially submerged cars stuck along debris-filled streets.
Authorities say more than 1,700 people have been evacuated, most by helicopters and boats. Student dorms are housing about 740 displaced people, Turkey's disaster and emergency management body said in a statement.
