Severe bad weather is hitting Turkey, causing flooding in roads and houses, while the state machine is on its feet to free citizens, as SKAI correspondent Manolis Kostidis reports.

At least five people have died in floods caused by torrential rains in northwestern Turkey, authorities said today.

The two of them died yesterday, Tuesday, night in Istanbul, where roads turned into rivers.
Also 12 people were injured, according to the tally released by the city governor’s office.

Turkish emergency services also said three people had died and three were missing in Kirklareli province in northwestern Turkey.

The overnight storm partially flooded an Istanbul metro station and forced authorities to evacuate dozens of people from a municipal library, according to media reports.

Images broadcast by television networks and social media showed cars and shopping stalls being swept away by the waters.

The rains came after a particularly dry summer, during which water levels in the city of 16 million people’s reservoirs had dropped to their lowest level in nine years.

Television footage showed rescuers pulling a young girl and an adult to safety from waist-deep water in some areas. The rains also caused damage and forced the closure of a main road, Habertürk TV reported.

In Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, heavy rain flooded streets and houses in two neighborhoods. About a dozen people were rescued after being trapped inside a library, while some metro stations were closed. Istanbul Governor Davut Gul urged motorcyclists to stay home.

In Bulgaria, the prime minister, Nikolai Denkof, said two people had died and three others were missing after a storm caused flooding on the country’s southern Black Sea coast.

The overflowing 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 floodwaters.

Strong winds sent 2m-high waves onto beaches in tourist resorts amid torrential rains that flooded roads and homes.

Television footage showed cars and camper vans drifting into the sea in the worst-hit southern resort of Tsarevo. Authorities declared a state of emergency in Tsarevo and urged people to move upstairs as the ground floors of some hotels were flooded.