At least seven dead due to severe flooding across Turkey, Bulgaria, and Greece
Severe storms have triggered extreme flooding across Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria. (Getty Images)
Torrential rain and severe flooding across Turkey, Bulgaria, and Greece have left at least seven dead.
Of those seven, two were holidaymakers who had been staying at a campsite in northwestern Turkey before being swept away by the current.
In the city of Istanbul, flood water has filled streets and homes and caused subway stations to shut down, with at least two people reported dead.
At least a dozen people were rescued by emergency services after being trapped in Istanbul’s National Library of Istanbul Başakşehir.
Meanwhile, the brutal conditions brought on by Storm Daniel has seen parts of Greece record a year’s worth of rainfall in one day, sweeping cars into the sea and misplacing at least five people.
Locals in central Greece, the Soprades island chain, and the island of Evia received mobile phone alerts from authorities, warning them to limit their movements outdoors.
Many airlines have either canceled or delayed their flights to and from the Greek resort island of Skiathos as widespread flooding continues, per ITV News.
One death has been reported in the town of Volos, after a wall buckled and fell on a civilian, the Associated Press reports.
This storm swiftly follows Greece’s summer wildfires which burned for over two weeks and resulted in at least 20 deaths.
Commenting on the country’s recent bout of extreme weather conditions, Greek Prime Minister Kyriajos Mitsotakis blamed the government’s lack of care surrounding climate change.
“I am afraid that the careless summers, as we knew them … will cease to exist and from now on the coming summers are likely to be ever more difficult,” he said.
Greece’s minister for civil protection, Vassilis Kikilias, has said that flooding is forecasted to ease from noon on Wednesday.
And, in Bulgaria, flooding has caused rivers to overflow and roadworks to be destroyed. Power cuts and tap water contamination have also been reported.
Authorities have declared a state of emergency in the seaside down of Tsarevo, where high winds have sent 6-food waves crashing towards the shore.
Two people have been reported dead and at least three others are missing as a result of the flooding, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov has confirmed.
