Death toll from Turkey’s flash floods rises to nine

The death toll from flash floods that swept across several Black Sea regions of Turkey rises to nine.

Heavy storms descended on Turkey’s northern stretches just as rescuers reported bringing hundreds of wildfires that have killed eight people since late July under near total control in the south.

Turkey has been grappling with drought and a rapid succession of natural disasters that world scientists believe are becoming more frequent and violent because of climate change.

Heavy rains late Tuesday produced flash floods that turned streets into running rivers and sparked mudslides that buckled roads in three northern regions.

Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli warned yesterday that the area was facing “a disaster that we had not seen in 50 or 100 years.”