Bridges collapsed, hundreds of workers were evacuated from factories, and tonnes of hazelnut crops were swept away on Wednesday, August 8, 2018 as torrential rains lashed Turkey’s Black Sea coast.
The coastal province of Ordu was badly hit.
A statement from the governor’s office said heavy rains caused landslides and more than 100 flash floods.
A total of 715 workers, at a hazelnut farm and a textile factory, had to be moved to safety, the governor’s office said.
The coastguard joined rescue efforts. Helicopters, ambulances and bulldozers were dispatched to several neighbourhoods in Ordu, one of 18 provinces along the 1,700-kilometre Black Sea coast.
Broadcast footage showed people scrambling to higher ground.
One elderly man was rescued from the balcony of his two-storey home in the bucket of a bulldozer.
Cars and houses were underwater.
“We are having a serious disaster in seven of our districts. As many as eight bridges were destroyed,’’ Ordu Mayor Enver Yilmaz told private DHA news agency.
There were no casualties so far, five people were injured.
Haberturk daily reported that 30,000 tonnes of hazelnut crops were washed away in the floodwaters.
Turkey produces nearly 70 per cent of the world’s hazelnuts, according to the Customs and Trade Ministry.
The weather bureau warned that heavy rains will continue overnight through Thursday.
