Seventeen killed as flash floods sweep through northern Turkey

The floods are the second natural disaster to strike the country this month

The result of floods after heavy rain in the Bozkurt district of Kastamonu, Turkey, on August 12. Getty

Seventeen people were killed in flash floods in Turkey's Black Sea region on Thursday.

The floods sent water and debris cascading through streets, damaged bridges and ripped up roads in the second natural disaster to strike the country this month.

The floodwaters brought chaos to northern provinces just as authorities were declaring that some of the wildfires that had raged through southern coastal regions for two weeks had been brought under control.

The floods and the fires, which killed eight people and devastated tens of thousands of hectares of forest, struck in the same week a UN panel said that global warming was dangerously close to being out of control.

Fifteen people were killed in the floods in Kastamonu province and two people died in Sinop, authorities said. They said search and rescue operations were continuing.

More than 1,400 people were moved to safety from the areas affected, some with the help of helicopters and boats.

And about 740 people were being housed in student dormitories, the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate said.

Helicopters lowered coastguard personnel on to the roofs of buildings to rescue people who were stranded as flood water swept through the streets, Interior Ministry footage showed.

The downpour damaged power infrastructure, leaving about 330 villages without electricity.

Five bridges had collapsed and many others were damaged, leading to road closures, the directorate said. Parts of roads were also swept away.

TV footage showed the floods dragging dozens of cars and heaps of debris along the streets. The heavy rainfall in the region was expected to ease on Thursday evening, the disaster agency said.

Authorities said 299 forest fires that burnt across south-western provinces for the last two weeks had been brought under control.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said they were the worst fires Turkey had faced in its history.

Thousands of Turks and tourists were evacuated as the flames spread through Aegean and Mediterranean coastal regions, fanned by hot, dry weather and strong winds.