Deaths in severe floods sweeping the earthquake-affected areas in Turkey

Weather of Arabia - 14 people were killed and others were missing after floods swept the streets of two cities in southeastern Turkey that were destroyed by earthquakes last month, and among the victims were earthquake survivors who had been living in container homes since the earthquake.

The latest disaster came just five weeks after the earthquakes of 6 February in which more than 48,000 people died and many more were left homeless.

The search and rescue organization AFAD said that in a 24-hour period, 136 mm (5.4 inches) of rain fell in one district of Adiyaman province and 111 mm (4.4 inches) in Sanliurfa, which saw a third of the annual rainfall in the past two days.

The governor of Sanliurfa, Salih Ayhan, said his province had never seen floods like this before, and officials appealed to residents to vacate the ground floor and basements of homes.

The bodies of five people were found in a basement apartment and Turkish media said they were Syrians.

Some of the victims were trapped in the tunnel at the Abidi Koprulu junction in Sanliurfa

The bodies were also recovered from a tunnel at the main Abydi road junction, where floodwaters dragged several people in their cars, and people who tried to help them.

(Photo of police divers searching for survivors in Sanliurfa - ANADOLU AGENCY)

(This man was rescued and pulled to safety from the tunnel at Obaid Junction)

The governor said two of the missing were lifeguards, and he appealed to residents to stay away from the moving water, even flooding a hospital and moving 200 patients elsewhere.

Arabia Weather explains the scientific reasons behind the occurrence of floods in Turkey

The weather forecast staff at the Arab Regional Weather Center stated that the reason for the recent floods in Turkey is due to the strength of the weather disturbances that prevailed in the country’s airspace, as Turkey, especially the southeastern parts of it, was affected by a strong state of air instability, and the reason is scientifically behind the emergence of unstable weather conditions It was characterized by intensity, due to the rush of a very cold air mass in all layers of the atmosphere, accompanied by an air depression centered over the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, and works to withdraw moisture from the waters of the Mediterranean Sea and pump it with the air currents in the atmosphere towards the Turkish lands.

This atmospheric situation coincided with the influx of some warm air currents from the east, which contributed to raising the instability in the atmosphere, as a result of the convergence of winds that are largely different in their characteristics and saturated with water vapor, which caused the formation of very thick thunderstorm clouds accompanied by heavy rain in In many areas, due to the large amounts of rain falling within a short period of time, torrential rains formed and floods occurred in many areas.