The heavy rainfall that has been affecting Istanbul for two days has negatively impacted life across the city. While puddles formed on numerous streets and avenues due to the downpour, some underpasses, homes, and workplaces were also submerged.
Artist Nazan Öncel stated that she was stranded in the area affected by the rainfall and shared footage of her rescue on her social media account. In her post, Öncel wrote that AFAD teams reached them and brought them to their homes using “excavators and boats.”
Öncel stated that the incident occurred on the Göktürk-Kemerburgaz road and warned citizens, saying, “Unless it is absolutely necessary, no one should leave their home! Please, I urge you.”
In her post, Öncel also mentioned children stranded in the area, reporting that students from Okyanus College who were trapped were rescued by boats and that school officials were making efforts to deliver the children safely to their families.
In the same series of posts, Öncel also raised some issues she claimed were occurring in the area. The artist alleged that a business had closed its restrooms and turned away families who reacted to this, arguing that people were forced to take their children to gas station restrooms under these conditions.
In another post on her Instagram account, the artist expressed her sadness over the news of loss of life and missing persons. Stating that a school employee had lost their life after being swept away by floodwaters and that three people were being searched for as missing, Öncel said, “I am very sad.”
Describing how she questioned herself after her experiences during the rescue efforts, Öncel used the expressions, “Questions like, ‘If those excavators had stayed in that field instead of carrying us, could that child be alive today?’ are constantly occupying my mind.”
News Source: 12punto
