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Heavy mid-summer rain paralyzes life in Istanbul
Heavy mid-summer rain paralyzes life in Istanbul
Torrential rains, unconventional for late July in Istanbul, have caught locals by surprise, paralyzing life in a number of neighborhoods. Click through for the story in photos...
Traffic stopped for around an hour in parts of the Fatih district, which hosts historic landmarks like the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, as flashfloods buried cars in the afternoon on July 25.
Beyoğlu, known for Taksim Square, was another Istanbul district where daily life was seriously affected by heavy rain.
The metro line between Atatürk International Airport and the central station of Yenikapı was temporarily suspended. The Istanbul municipality made public buses in the area free.
There were similar scenes on the Asian side of Istanbul. The Üsküdar, Tuzla, and Pendik districts, as well as the seaside of the Bosphorus, were significantly affected.
Istanbul has been hit by waves of clouds this month, bringing unusually heavy mid-summer rain.
The frequency of floods, storms, whirlwinds, and droughts has been increasing due to global warming and climate change, said Chamber of Meteorological Engineers Vice President Ahmet Köse on July 24.
“The severity and frequency of these kinds of matters have been increasing every year,” he told state-run Anadolu Agency.
The number of rainy days in July this year have doubled from the 1981-2010 average of 4.3 days, he pointed.
In total, 43,388 lightning flashes were observed in 24 hours since 9 a.m. on July 24, especially in the northwestern provinces of Istanbul, Kocaeli, Edirne, and Tekirdağ.
Click through for more photos of today's rain by Demirören News Agency and Anadolu Agency...
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