The death toll from flooding in Turkey has climbed to at least 44 people, the country’s disaster agency said Saturday.
Torrential rains Wednesday triggered flooding in the northern Black Sea region, destroying homes, closing roads, and cutting off electricity to hundreds of villages, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD).
Authorities said more than 2,200 people had been evacuated and that the search continued for missing residents.
The floods are the second natural disaster to strike Turkey this month. Over the past two weeks, emergency crews battled wildfires in southern coastal regions that had been bought under control by the time the flooding began.
Scientists blame climate change sparked by the burning of fossil fuels for extreme weather disasters that are expected to occur more frequently as the planet warms.
Experts in Turkey maintain, though, that meddling with rivers and faulty construction also has contributed to the heavy damage caused by the floods.
The Associated Press and Reuters provided some information for this report.
