Torrential rains in Istanbul and Greek islands cause 5 deaths

Istambul, 16 out (Lusa) - torrential rains have caused since Wednesday four dead and three missing in Istanbul, as well as a deadly victim and thousands of displaced on several Greek islands, where new weather is expected in the coming hours, today indicated official sources.

Floods have caused serious damage to housing, commercial establishments and infrastructure in both regions.

The discovery of a corpse today increased to four the number of deaths following the floods in Istanbul, where three people are still missing and about 60,000 operatives are mobilized to cope with the damage, with another intense rain journey planned.

Emergency teams rescued more than 3,000 people who were held by water in Istanbul since the start of the precipitation, on Wednesday, according to Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci, who visited Ayazaga neighborhood in the morning, one of the most affected areas.

The Turkish authorities received nearly 10,000 requests for assistance in connection with events caused by the storm and lodged in public facilities affected persons in need of shelter, the minister added.

Floods damaged hundreds of homes, shops and vehicles, knocked down walls and forced road closures, although the damage assessment has not yet been completed. In Ayazaga alone, located in the European area of the city, damage was recorded in about 300 commercial establishments and 200 vehicles. Istanbul schools are closed.

In some areas of the north of this city of 16 million inhabitants, 261 liters of precipitation per square meter were recorded during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the highest value since the beginning of the meteorological records, in 1942.

Turkish Environment and Urbanism Minister Murat Kurum reported that six roads in the districts of Eyüpsultan, Sarıyer and .

The teams continue work in flooded areas using heavy machinery, as long as the authorities plan to complete the damage assessment during the weekend, according to Kurum.

The Turkish state weather service provides for intense new rains for today and especially on Saturday in Istanbul, Ankara, the Western Black Sea region and other provinces.

In Greece, the islands affected by the floods are preparing for a new episode of torrential rain, after a truce on Thursday, according to the forecasts of the Athens National Observatory.

Since Wednesday, Civil Protection has put the Aegean islands on a red alert level, as well as Crete, Attica and Eubeia.

The storm caused on Wednesday the death of a 62-year-old man in Rhodes, in the eastern Aegean, while in Eubeia, about 70 kilometres north of Athens, two locations, with a joint population of 6,300 inhabitants, had to be evacuated.

The rains flooded homes and shops, dragged vehicles and caused serious damage to the infrastructure of both islands and the Espórade archipelago, where there were several interruptions in electricity supply in Skiathos and Skopelos.

In Rhodes, there were registered Wednesday 264 liters of precipitation per square meter in 12 hours, on a day when there were also thousands of electric discharges and strong gusts of wind, which fell trees at various points of the island.