Flood-hit Rize to be declared a ‘disaster zone’
200 people evacuated from the Black Sea region
PRESIDENT Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the areas of Turkey’s Black Sea region Rize which were hit by flooding and landslides this week will be officially declared a disaster area.
Around 200 people were evacuated due to the flooding, the Turkish disaster management agency said.
The Arhavi River overflowed due to heavy rain, badly affecting the district centre and village roads in the Artvin province, said Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (Afad).
Six people trapped in the Arhavi district and nine in the Murgul district were taken to safe areas, the statement added.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter that one person who was rescued from the rubble in Arhavi and taken to a hospital was in good condition.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu also came to see the flood-hit region.
There were also electricity
cuts in the region. The Energy and Natural Resources Ministry reported that 3,045 consumers were left without electricity due to floods in the neighbouring provinces of Artvin and Rize. The energy of 9,650 consumers was cut off due to security measures, the ministry said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Search and Rescue Association (Akut) rescued 18 people, including eight children, who were trapped in Arhavi’s Mencuna Waterfall.
At least six people died, with two people still missing, in flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rain last week in the Rize province.