ISTANBUL - Flood waters triggered by torrential rains inundated hundreds of houses and offices both in Asian and European parts of Istanbul, sources told the A.A on Tuesday.
According to meteorologists, the rains, which started on Monday, may have been the worst in Istanbul in a decade and are likely to continue through Thursday.
Emergency teams said that they received more than 3,000 calls by Tuesday from people seeking assistance. Hundreds of homes were evacuated Monday before the storm hit.
Municipal teams have been using heavy machines to divert the flood waters from streets.
A passenger bus carrying foreign tourists was stuck into asphalt which collapsed due to torrential rain in Eyup neighborhood.
In several parts of the city, water flowed in rivers through the streets and swept away cars.
Some streams such as Alibeykoy Stream and Circir Stream overflowed due to torrential rains inundating nearby houses and business places.
Istanbul Municipality Crisis Coordination Center (AKOM) teams have been trying to rescue those who were stranded in their flooded houses.
Torrential rains also paralyzed traffic and some flooded roads have been closed to the traffic.
(UK-ULG) 17.08.2004