Another natural tragedy in Turkey: at least 14 dead and 5 missing due to floods in the same area affected by the earthquake

The city of Sanliurfa and the neighboring province of Adiyaman are the most affected. There are millions of people living on the streets.

At least 14 people have died and another 5 are missing after flooding in two southeastern provinces of Turkey that had been affected by the devastating earthquake in early February.

Twelve deaths occurred in the city of Sanliurfa, including five Syrians found in the basement of a building, and another two in the neighboring province of Adiyaman, including a one-and-a-half-year-old baby, Interior Minister Suleyman said. Soylu, according to the AFP news agency.

The Turkish official confirmed that 160 rescue workers and divers have been sent to Adiyaman and neighboring Malatya provinces, the hardest hit by the quake, which suffered extensive damage.

People leave an area affected by heavy rain and flooding in Sanliurfa, Turkey. AP photo.

At least one of the deceased in Adiyaman was inside a container converted into an emergency shelter when it was trapped by the waters, according to the official Anadolu agency.

More than a month after the earthquake that caused nearly 50,000 deaths in Turkey

Last week marked a month since the earthquake in Turkey and part of Syria, where there are more than a million people on the streets and help is not coming.

More than 48,000 people were killed in Turkey and nearly 6,000 in Syria after the Feb. 6 quake struck the area, the region’s worst disaster in modern times.

Many of the earthquake survivors are temporarily housed in tents and containers, in the 11 Turkish provinces affected by the quake.

Collapsed buildings in Turkey. Photo EFE.

Millions of displaced people and people living without access to basic services. Problems of shortages and risks of growing poverty that international aid is unable to remedy.

Such is the humanitarian situation there, where it remains critical and difficult to predict, particularly for the Syrian population in the northwest of the country, a region controlled by the rebels and still suffering the effects of almost twelve years of civil war.

According to AFAD, Turkey’s agency in charge of emergency and disaster management, there are at least 1.5 million people homeless, and there are no clear estimates about how long it will take them to find permanent residence again.

A woman tries to survive in debris media. Photo EFE

Nearly two million people have left the disaster zone and gone to live with friends and relatives in other parts of the country. Train and plane rides are free for earthquake victims who want to leave.

The images of people living meters from the rubble of their homes have become the usual postcards in southern Turkey, the area hardest hit by the 7.8 earthquake that shook the region on February 6.

With information from agencies.

DS​

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