Landslide in Rize: Two houses buried under soil!

Following heavy rainfall, a landslide occurred in the region, causing two vacant 2-story buildings—which had been evacuated after a disaster on July 15, 2021—to collapse. Soil flowing into the stream bed blocked the stream's mouth, creating a pond. AFAD personnel, who arrived at the scene upon notification, took security measures and began an investigation. It was also reported that the region is at risk of flooding if the pond overflows.

Menderes Ofluoğlu, the owner of one of the houses destroyed by the landslide, stated that no one was in the buildings due to a previously issued risk report, saying, "Our region is already a landslide zone. We experienced this disaster around 5:00 in the morning. My cousin was in one of the houses that collapsed. He doesn't stay here because a 'do not inhabit' report was issued, but he comes and goes sometimes. That is why he had left the house around 21:00 in the evening," he said.

Ramazan Küçüksarı, the headman of Derecik village where the landslide occurred, expressed that he was shocked by the scale of the landslide when he arrived at the scene, stating, "We woke up with great fear around 6:00 in the morning. An uncle called us and said the road was blocked and there was a landslide. I came here immediately in a rush. When I arrived at the area, I was just stunned. I saw the mountain moving. The houses had completely disappeared. There was no one in the houses. There was one citizen of ours. He had also vacated the house late at night," he said.

Emphasizing that an evacuation order had been issued previously for the buildings that were destroyed due to landslides in the region in 2021, Küçüksarı said, "This region suffered great damage in the major disasters of 2021. The houses had been evacuated by our AFAD. Only one citizen of ours had not accepted the evacuation. That house, the house of the citizen who did not accept the evacuation, was also destroyed. Well, we have no loss of life. Thank God, we are grateful for that. But one must follow the rules. If AFAD has issued a 'do not inhabit' report here, no one should be living in these houses. An example of this has been experienced here," he stated.

News Source: İHA