Bad weather hit central Turkey shortly after noon.
Photo: social networks
This morning, Turkey’s General Directorate of Meteorology declared a high level of meteorological danger in 45 cities in the country, including Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. The weather forecast promised heavy rain and storms that would hit central Turkey shortly after midday.
In the town of Mugla, according to local authorities, life was paralyzed for several hours due to strong winds and streets flooded with water, and hail also fell in this town. The water continues to rise in the streets of Canakkale, where the prolonged downpour has not yet stopped. In Antalya, a storm knocked down the spire of one of the minarets. Bad weather brought… snow to the city of Bolu: the thickness of the snow layer that suddenly appeared there was 5 cm.
The meteorological catastrophe dealt the hardest blow to the Turkish capital, Ankara. The strong winds downed many trees and ripped off the roofs of many buildings. Additionally, in some areas of the city, due to broken cables, there was no power for several hours. Public transport operations had to be suspended for a time. A real hurricane devastated Ankara, but fortunately there were no victims. Severe weather conditions are expected to persist there until at least midnight.
Istanbul was prepared for disaster: meteorologists warned in advance about the impending storm. Wind gusts continue to tear off roofs, destroy unfinished construction projects and break trees, many of which fall on parked cars. Several streets remain closed to vehicle traffic as utility workers clear fallen tree trunks and branches from roads and evacuate damaged vehicles in the pouring rain. It is noteworthy that in the areas of Istanbul that are located in the hills, heavy downpours fall and in all the others it is a normal spring rain;
