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- October 14, 202617°
- BIST10012,118-1.08%
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- INTEREST37.00%-1.00
- BITCOIN81,611-1.78%
- October 14, 202617°
Istanbul grinds to a halt as evening downpour pushes traffic to 89%
Traffic across Istanbul seized up on Wednesday evening as heavy rain intensified again during rush hour, pushing citywide congestion to 89 percent. In Esenyurt, bystanders pulled a woman out of floodwater.
Istanbul’s roads came to a near standstill on Wednesday evening as rain that had been falling since the previous night picked up again just as people were leaving work. According to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s congestion map, citywide traffic density reached 89 percent at around 5:30 p.m., up from 72 percent in the morning.
Long queues on the D-100, TEM and the bridges
On the European side, vehicles barely moved on the Beylikdüzü, Avcılar, Küçükçekmece and Bakırköy stretches of the D-100 highway and at the Golden Horn Bridge crossing. On the Asian side, long tailbacks formed along the D-100 through Ataşehir, Maltepe and Kartal and at the Sultanbeyli and Kavacık junctions of the TEM motorway.
Traffic also crawled on the July 15 Martyrs Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in the direction from Europe to Asia. In places, the downpour cut visibility to just a few meters.
At around 3:20 p.m., a van skidded on the slick road at Haramidere on the D-100 and crashed into the barriers of the Metrobus lane, lengthening the queue toward Avcılar.
Woman swept away in Esenyurt rescued
In the Dereyolu Hürriyet neighborhood of Esenyurt, where streets turned into lakes, a woman was knocked off her feet and carried several meters by the current before people nearby rushed to pull her out. The moment was captured on a mobile phone. Several cars in the area were also submerged.
In Başakşehir, drivers struggled to get through as muddy floodwater covered the road.
Rain expected to last until Thursday noon
The Istanbul Governor’s Office said 21 to 50 kilograms of rain per square meter were expected across the city, rising to 51 to 75 kilograms in some areas. The rain is forecast to persist until 6 a.m. on Thursday on the European side and until around noon on the Asian side.
Northeasterly winds could reach 80 to 90 kilometers per hour, which may disrupt sea transport. The governor’s office urged residents to take precautions against flooding, lightning, landslides and travel disruptions.
As of Wednesday evening, the governor’s office had not announced whether schools would close on Thursday, Oct. 15.
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