Istanbul remains gripped by the aftermath of its heaviest rainfall in eight decades on Oct. 16, with municipal crews working to clear flood debris and repair damage as meteorologists warn of further downpours and renewed flooding.
Heavy rain began lashing Türkiye’s largest city on the morning of Oct. 14, intensifying throughout the day and triggering widespread disruption and flash floods. Footage showed cars being swept away by fast-flowing floodwaters.
Four people have been reported dead in the flooding. A 14-year-old was electrocuted after stepping into a puddle in a park in the Fatih district, while a 34-year-old slipped on a sidewalk in Sarıyer and suffered a fatal head injury.
Search operations later uncovered another body along a stream in Istanbul’s Kağıthane district, bringing the death toll to three.
On Oct. 16, rescue teams found the body of a person reported missing in Ayazağa, a neighborhood in Sarıyer.
Among the hardest-hit locations was Sarıyer’s Ayazağa neighborhood, where power and natural gas outages persisted until noon on Oct. 15, leaving local bakeries and markets unable to operate.
On Oct. 16, Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi and Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum visited Ayazağa.
“We are experiencing the worst flood disaster since 1942,” Çiftçi told reporters during the visit.
Çiftçi said the number of people reported missing fell from five to four, adding that one of the missing individuals had lost contact with authorities after their phone battery ran out during the flooding.
Following the discovery of the body of a missing person, shortly after Çiftçi’s visit, search efforts were continuing for three other people.
“We experienced this problem because of inadequate infrastructure and haphazard urbanization. We will address the needs here. We will provide shelter for those who need accommodation and food for those who need food,” Kurum said.
Although the intensity of the downpour eased on Oct. 15, meteorological authorities warned that another spell of heavy rain was expected to reach Istanbul on Oct. 16 and 17, raising concerns about renewed flooding.
Rainfall recorded across Istanbul over the 48-hour period from Oct. 13 to 15 exceeded the long-term average for September and October. Precipitation reached 272 kilograms per square meter in some parts of the city, equivalent to approximately one-seventh of the area’s annual rainfall.
As the rain temporarily subsided on the morning of Oct. 16, Istanbul’s municipal crews began clearing the damage left behind by the floods.
Cleanup and repair operations were underway across the city, particularly in the districts of Beykoz, Şile, Sarıyer and Kağıthane, where torrential rain had caused flooding.
Response teams were active across the area, pumping water out of affected properties and removing ruined belongings. Crews also cleared streets of mud and debris before deploying washer trucks to clean the roadways.
Heavy rain caused a section of road outside Eyüpsultan to collapse. Crews cordoned off the area while heavy machinery worked to stabilize and clear the site.
