The number of deaths caused by flash floods Turkey It has reached level 27, and a new wildfire has erupted on the devastated Greek island of Evia, as southern Europe is preparing for more extreme weather events caused by man-made climate change.
The record-breaking Mediterranean heat wave fueled the fire and destroyed parts of Italy, Turkey, and Algeria. Spain and Portugal were on high alert, while Turkey’s Black Sea region was affected by some The worst flood In a living memory.
Turkish emergency rescuers fought to rescue the hardest-hit areas on Friday. The northern provinces of the country were in chaos, just as the authorities declared wildfires raging. Rages on its southern coast Within a month and a half, eight people were killed and controlled.
The flood submerged dozens of cars and piles of debris on the streets, bridges were destroyed, roads closed, electricity supplies cut off about 330 villages, and more than 1,700 people were evacuated, some of whom were evacuated with the help of helicopters and boats.
“This is the worst flood disaster I have ever seen,” Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said after investigating losses in Baltan, Kastamonu and Sinop provinces. “Our citizens face a high risk.”
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli stated that the region is facing “a disaster that we have not seen in 50 or 100 years” and weather forecasters predict more heavy rains in the coming hours and days.
The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) stated that the flood in Kastamonu killed 25 people and two others in Sinop. Five bridges collapsed and many other bridges were damaged.
“I am 75 years old and have never seen anything like this,” Adem Senol, a resident of Barten Province, told the Anadolu National News Agency. “The water rose higher than the height of our windows. It broke our door and even a wall.”
Scientists unanimously believe that due to global warming caused by harmful emissions, natural disasters have become more and more serious and frequent, which constituted the two years before the election of Turkey’s powerful President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. challenge.
Erdogan was originally scheduled to visit the flood-affected areas later on Friday, but was severely criticized on social media. Reaction to July wildfiresOpinion polls show that climate is a top priority, especially for young voters.
Elsewhere, high temperatures and low humidity continue to create ideal conditions for wildfires. A new fire broke out in Evia, the second largest island in Greece. A large-scale wildfire in the southern part of the area destroyed 50,000 hectares (125,000 acres) of pine forests and Countless homes.
The Greek fire department stated that four firefighting aircraft and six helicopters are dealing with the new fire in central Evia, as well as 23 firefighters and 10 vehicles. The bigger fire that broke out on August 3, Destroyed most of the northern part of the island It was still smoldering on Friday.
In the southern part of Greece in the Peloponnese, two other fires are still burning. Hundreds of firefighters from France, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic are there to help their Greek colleagues.
Civil defense spokesman Spyros Georgious said that a multinational firefighting force assisting Greece will remain in place. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the fire “the biggest ecological disaster in decades” in Greece.
Several other Mediterranean countries have also suffered wildfires in recent weeks. In Italy, firefighters intervened hundreds of times in Sicily, and on Wednesday recorded 48.8C (119.8F), which is considered the highest temperature ever in Europe. In southern CalabriaLocal residents evacuated from Tivoli east of Rome on Friday.
exist SpainTemperatures are expected to reach 46 degrees Celsius in some places this weekend. Firefighters controlled a fire in Catalonia on Friday, but another fire continued to burn near the town of Rubia in the northwest.
AEMET, the Spanish National Weather Service, said that on Friday, almost the entire country is facing high, very high or extreme wildfire risks, and 15 of its 17 autonomous regions are in high temperature alert status.
The Portuguese government placed 14 of the country’s 18 regions on fire alert. Prime Minister Antonio Costa warned that it will be difficult in the next few days, and the fire has killed 71 people In northern Algeria Since Monday, there have been dozens of fires in Tunisia.
Intensified drought and high temperatures associated with climate change exacerbate wildfires in the western U.S. and Russia Northern Siberia, Declared a state of emergency on Friday to mobilize fire fighting resources from other regions in Russia.
On Friday, officials reported that in the vast Sakha territory (also known as Yakutia) in northeastern Siberia, covering more than 308 million hectares, there were 117 active forest fires covering an area of nearly 1.4 million hectares. Experts said that the 2007 decision to disband the national aviation network responsible for the detection of the fire caused the disaster.
