ANKARA/ ATHENS/ SOFIA: Heavy downpours lashed Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria on Tuesday, triggering floods that left at least seven dead, including two holidaymakers who were swept away by a torrent that raged through a campsite in northwest Turkey.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said four more people were missing after a flash flood swept over a campsite in Kirklareli province near the border with Bulgaria. He said about 12 vacationers were at the site when the water hit.
Search teams found two bodies, he said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Search and rescue operations for the missing (four) are continuing without interruption,” he added.
Television footage showed rescuers carrying a young girl and an adult to safety from waters that were waist-deep in some areas. The rains also damaged and forced the closure of a major road, HaberTurk television reported.
In Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, heavy rain flooded streets and houses in two districts, killing at least two people, according to a statement from the governor’s office. Around a dozen people were rescued after being stranded in the library while some metro stations were closed. Istanbul Governor Davut Gul urged motorcyclists to stay at home.
In Greece, police closed down traffic in the central city of Volos, the nearby mountain region of Pelion and the resort of Skiathos as record-breaking rainfall caused at least one death, sent thigh-high torrents down the streets and swept away cars.
The fire service said one man was killed near Volos when a wall broke and fell on him. Five people were missing, probably swept away by the flood.
Authorities sent a cellphone alert to several other areas of central Greece, the Sporades archipelago and the island of Evia, warning people to limit their outdoor movement.
Streams overflowed their banks and swept cars into the sea in the Pelion area, while rocks blocked roads, washed away a small bridge and many areas suffered power outages. Authorities evacuated a retirement home in the town of Volos as a precaution.
The Greek Meteorological Service said the village of Pelion region received 75.4 centimeters (nearly 30 inches) of rain late Tuesday, by far the highest level recorded since at least 2006. It noted that the average annual rainfall in the Athens region is around 40 centimeters (15, 75 inches). ).
Vassilis Kikilias, the country’s minister for climate crisis and civil protection, said the heavy rain should ease after midday on Wednesday. He advised people in affected areas to stay indoors.
The storm comes on the heels of large summer fires that have ravaged Greece in the past few weeks, with some burning for more than two weeks and destroying large areas of forest and farmland. More than 20 people died in the fires.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis blamed both the wildfires and the storms on climate change, while admitting that his center-right government “clearly didn’t handle things as well as we would have liked” on the wildfire front.
“I fear that the careless years as we knew them … will cease to exist, and from now on, the coming years are likely to be even more difficult,” he said on Tuesday.
In northern Bulgaria, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said two people had died and three others were missing after a storm caused flooding on the country’s southern Black Sea coast.
Flooded rivers caused severe damage to roads and bridges. The area also suffered power outages and authorities warned residents not to drink tap water due to contamination from the flooding.
Strong winds sent two-metre (6ft) waves crashing onto beaches in tourist resorts amid torrential rain that flooded streets and homes.
Television footage showed cars and camper vans being swept out to sea in the worst-hit southern resort of Careva. Authorities declared a state of emergency in Carevo and urged people to move upstairs as the ground floors of some hotels were flooded.
