In two days of flash floods caused by heavy rainfall hit my City Istanbul. Killed 31 people in the region. That was hit by the worst flooding in decades!
Happened in the industrial Ikitelli neigborhood on the European side of the City, which is close to the International Ataturk Airport. Many cars were stranded on the roads, forcing people to climb on the top of their cars and wait for rescue of helicopter rescue.
Being a believer, I know that everything comes from God. But this time I am not agree on it. No I can not. My belief is that Istanbul's unplanned and rapid urbanization and because of builders' and city officials' disregard for nature made possible this disaster to be revealed.
All we know the truth that rainfall enters water basin through streams and goes underground. And some of it evaporates normally. But what we see in this worst hit is water tried to find a way to move over and under the ground, but can't because all of the ground is poured concrete.
I do not forget those illegally constructed buildings in unsuitable areas. In my opinion, Istanbul mayor should act quickly on to break the concrete in the gardens and plant trees there instead. Construction should be done in right places.
All is clear: we human beings, not nature, were responsible for this disaster. These disasters can happen everywhere around the world, but this time hit Istanbul.
Back to past, in the 1990's another flood disaster happened in this same area, Ikitelli. Unfortunately we don't take lesson! If we would learn lessons from [same] disasters then we could stop construction on the streambeds and end the great damages and save the lives of innocent people and their lives.
Our Gov't had allocated $2 million for emergency funding to this flood damage. I think this is not enough because this incident reveals that Istanbul lacks the culture of urbanization and city planning.
My sincere thanks go to you all, I am so grateful for your good wishes. Appreciative your warm thoughts. The strength of your words and your sensitivity leave me speechless.
Yes, the same boat as me and it hurts. It hurts my heart for the victims!
Thankfully I am not affected by this worst flooding that you were asking me and my family via e-mails and comments as well. All we are doing well, none of my relatives live in there. Life continues. Every dark cloud passes and just behind every dark cloud is sunshine. My hope and love never crash:)
Happened in the industrial Ikitelli neigborhood on the European side of the City, which is close to the International Ataturk Airport. Many cars were stranded on the roads, forcing people to climb on the top of their cars and wait for rescue of helicopter rescue.
Being a believer, I know that everything comes from God. But this time I am not agree on it. No I can not. My belief is that Istanbul's unplanned and rapid urbanization and because of builders' and city officials' disregard for nature made possible this disaster to be revealed.
All we know the truth that rainfall enters water basin through streams and goes underground. And some of it evaporates normally. But what we see in this worst hit is water tried to find a way to move over and under the ground, but can't because all of the ground is poured concrete.
I do not forget those illegally constructed buildings in unsuitable areas. In my opinion, Istanbul mayor should act quickly on to break the concrete in the gardens and plant trees there instead. Construction should be done in right places.
All is clear: we human beings, not nature, were responsible for this disaster. These disasters can happen everywhere around the world, but this time hit Istanbul.
Back to past, in the 1990's another flood disaster happened in this same area, Ikitelli. Unfortunately we don't take lesson! If we would learn lessons from [same] disasters then we could stop construction on the streambeds and end the great damages and save the lives of innocent people and their lives.
Our Gov't had allocated $2 million for emergency funding to this flood damage. I think this is not enough because this incident reveals that Istanbul lacks the culture of urbanization and city planning.
My sincere thanks go to you all, I am so grateful for your good wishes. Appreciative your warm thoughts. The strength of your words and your sensitivity leave me speechless.
Yes, the same boat as me and it hurts. It hurts my heart for the victims!
Thankfully I am not affected by this worst flooding that you were asking me and my family via e-mails and comments as well. All we are doing well, none of my relatives live in there. Life continues. Every dark cloud passes and just behind every dark cloud is sunshine. My hope and love never crash:)
I'm glad you and your family are ok, I feel sad because so many died.
ReplyDeleteun caro saluto di solidarietà da Torino.Italy
ReplyDeleteI saw the people climbing on top of their cars in the news this morning as I was having breakfast, almost leaving to work.
ReplyDeleteAnd when I heard 'Istanbul' I immediately thought of you and your family. I'm glad to read that you're fine, Nihal.
Warm regards and support.
Hi Nihal, I read about it in the papers, thank goodness you are well but so sorry for those who have suffered. Happy weekend Nihal...
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear of the disaster. Glad you and your family are unaffected.
ReplyDeleteI listened to a short interview on BBC with the man in charge of zoning and city planning. It was, not unexpectedly, business as usual. He said it was an unfortunate event, but this is a result of years of poor planning and not merely under his watch. While this may be true, the question is what the local and national government plan to do to prevent such incidents from happening again or worse. What is needed is a full unbiased investigation with specific recommendations and citations of whose responsibilities must be clarified or strengthened. And lastly, the response to this event was far from adequate.
ReplyDeleteAn investigation should include recommendations for response and recovery as well.
Sadly, none of this will happen if, even at this early stage, the public is given the shrugging shoulders as an answer.
Nihal, I am very pleased to hear that you and your family are oké.
ReplyDeleteIt was all over the news in The Netherlands.
What a terrible thing to happen.
Sad to hear of all the damage and loss of life. As you say, humans should learn to work with nature not against it. Here we have problems with all the homes built in high fire zones. They burn but are built again in the same spot.
ReplyDeleteSo good to hear you and your family are ok.
Darla
Nihal, I'm really glad you and your family are ok. It has been a terrible disaster and your post well describes it.
ReplyDeleteMy best wishes
I know I am late to check if everything is O.K . But still very happy to read you and your family were not touched.
ReplyDeleteBisous