Turkey now! Istanbul under water! 55,000 people without electricity!

Videos showing water pouring down a street in Turkey’s Istanbul are gaining popularity on social media. Streets in an Istanbul neighborhood were flooded as heavy rains caused flooding that killed seven people, Reuters news agency reported. Turkey’s interior minister said search and rescue operations were continuing and promised financial support for families living in flood-hit areas. Istanbul received about 125 kilograms of rainfall per square meter in less than six hours, which is in line with what the city normally expects in a month in September, the governor’s office said in a statement. The clips show heavy downpours causing several cars to float on flooded waters in northern Istanbul neighborhoods. “We received about 1,150 flood notifications from 112 emergency centers and another 2,540 flood reports from municipalities. Various response teams, including (Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate), Fire Brigade (Istanbul Water and Sewerage Directorate) and Municipal Rescue Teams are working tirelessly to address these reports. In addition, law enforcement, gendarmerie and health authorities are fully supporting these efforts,“ the statement further said. The rains followed a particularly dry summer that saw water supplies in the city of 16 million people fall to a nine-year low. The heavy rain also caused unprecedented flooding in Southeastern Europe, damaging infrastructure and prompting the evacuation of people