16.10.2026 18:11
Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi issued critical warnings to citizens after the severe rainfall and flood disaster that affected many provinces in Turkey. Çiftçi, stating that the General Directorate of Meteorology is maintaining its orange-coded warning for 5 provinces, said the danger has not yet passed. Minister Çiftçi, asking citizens to stay at home as much as possible and park their vehicles in safe places, said that 865 people were evacuated in Sakarya.
Minister of Interior Mustafa Çiftçi conducted inspections in flood-hit Sakarya and announced the latest situation. Pointing out that heavy rainfall may continue, Minister Çiftçi stated that the orange alert continues in 5 provinces and asked citizens not to relax their precautions.
THE DANGER HAS NOT PASSED YET! ORANGE ALERT FOR 5 PROVINCES Visiting the areas affected by the flood in Sakarya, Minister of Interior Mustafa Çiftçi recalled that the General Directorate of Meteorology initially issued yellow-coded warnings for 42 provinces and orange-coded warnings for 6 provinces due to the rainfall that began on October 14. Reminding of the ongoing orange-coded warning for Istanbul, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Yalova, and Bursa, Minister Çiftçi said, “At the moment, the danger has still not passed. Our General Directorate of Meteorology continues to issue an orange warning in 5 of our provinces as of tomorrow as well. One of them is Sakarya. We cannot yet say that the danger has fully passed; we need to remain on alert.”
CALL FROM MINISTER ÇİFTÇİ TO CITIZENS: DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HOMES Warning citizens against new risks that heavy rainfall may create, Minister Çiftçi emphasized that those living especially in provinces given an orange code must be careful. Calling for people not to leave their homes unless necessary and to park their vehicles in safe areas, Minister Çiftçi made the following statements: “In our provinces under orange warning, our citizens should not go outside their homes as much as possible. They should park their vehicles in safe places. In this way, I believe we can reduce loss of life and property to lower levels. These efforts are already being carried out within the scope of Turkey's Disaster Response. I thank all our personnel who contributed once again. May God protect our state and nation from similar disasters. We are truly receiving very serious rainfall. Perhaps we are witnessing days when the rainfall that falls in a year falls in a single day. I believe that, by the state and nation joining hands, we can overcome these with the least damage.”
865 PEOPLE EVACUATED IN SAKARYA, BRIDGES COLLAPSED Also announcing the toll of the flood disaster, Minister Çiftçi reported that 641 calls reached the 112 Emergency Call Center in Sakarya, of which 573 turned into incidents. Stating that 865 people were evacuated due to the disaster, Çiftçi said that 2 buildings and 5 bridges were destroyed. In Ferizli district, rainfall reached 270 kilograms per square meter, while in Karasu it reached 224 kilograms. Due to the flood, there were electricity, water, and telephone outages in some areas, and disruptions also occurred in transportation. Agriculture and livestock were also affected by the disaster. In Sakarya, 170 thousand poultry died, while 209 beehives were damaged.
60 THOUSAND PERSONNEL ON DUTY ACROSS TURKEY Noting that disaster response efforts continue without interruption, Çiftçi announced that 46 thousand personnel are on duty in Istanbul and 60 thousand across Turkey. In Sakarya, response efforts are being carried out with 1,621 personnel, 617 vehicles, and 8 boats. DSİ teams are also continuing stream rehabilitation work. Explaining that damage and loss assessment work will begin after the rainfall ends, Minister Çiftçi stated that citizens' losses will be covered in line with the state's means.