Antalya Sinking.. Turkish Infrastructure Unable to Absorb Rains, Streets Turned into Lakes
The Turkish city of Antalya has experienced heavy rainfall causing floods not seen in the same city in more than 50 years. Despite the government’s assurances of readiness for weather changes, and its infrastructure to absorb rainwater, the streets have been flooded and people’s homes have been inundated with water, as the drainage network is unable to dispose of water in a way that preserves citizens’ property.
Serious damage
The greenhouses in the area, a greenhouse production center, have also been severely damaged. “We have not seen anything like this for 50 years, water suddenly went up and flooded cars, we are on standby,” said Mustafa Kuloglu, the mayor of Kumluca, which received the bulk of the rainfall.
Adding: “Despite our efforts, we have not been able to control the situation, I am very sorry for what happened in our region, we want our citizens to be cautious so that there will be no loss of life,” he said. Schools were closed Monday due to floods in the Kumluca and Vinik regions of Antalya, Turkey.
Fragile infrastructure
Turkish dissidents questioned the reasons for the rapid collapse of infrastructure in one of Turkey’s most prominent tourist cities, saying they were shocked by the unpreparedness of rainwater drainage networks despite the fact that flooding and rainfall are not new to the country, adding that Ankara itself was hit by massive floods in 2018. The government’s response has been to say that these phenomena did not occur for many years, but things have not changed much after more than four years. The government’s response has been to criticize the transformation of streets and roads into lakes after hours of rainfall in the neighborhoods of Salur, Sarikaso, and Ortakoy. Thousands of people have been trapped in their homes as the Emergency and Disaster Management Department has been unable to provide any kind of assistance to the besieged population.
