Flooding brings travel to a standstill in Istanbul
Parts of Istanbul, Turkey, were hit by thunder, lightning and flooding on July 18, as the city felt the effects of severe weather conditions.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms crossing northwest Turkey on Tuesday morning resulted in travel chaos across Istanbul.
The morning commute was brought to a standstill in parts of the city as torrential downpours quickly submerged roads and railways.
Rainfall equal to the month's average fell on the city within a few hours. Some areas received as much as 128 millimeters (approx. 5 inches) of rain.

Facebook/Feyzullah Demir via Storyful
Several metro and bus stations were flooded and brought public transportation to a near halt, according to the Hurriyet Daily News.
Several vehicles were left stranded in flood waters across the city according to the Associated Press. People were also reportedly stranded in their homes in the district of Silivri and had to be rescued, according to the AP.
<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Unreal! <a href="https://twitter.com/HavaForum">@HavaForum</a> share this video from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Istanbul?src=hash">#Istanbul</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Turkey?src=hash">#Turkey</a> this morning! 6/30 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/eustorm?src=hash">#eustorm</a> <a href="https://t.co/Yze89nXbnF">https://t.co/Yze89nXbnF</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/flood?src=hash">#flood</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/flashflood?src=hash">#flashflood</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/storm?src=hash">#storm</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RT?src=hash">#RT</a> <a href="https://t.co/DHIV88Kdjt">pic.twitter.com/DHIV88Kdjt</a></p>— #eustorm (@EUStormMap) <a href="https://twitter.com/EUStormMap/status/887318370198192129">July 18, 2017</a></blockquote> //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js</center>
<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">Yetkililer bir açıklama yapmalı araçları sel suyuna karıÅanların maÅa baÅlayacaklar mi ? <a href="https://t.co/XuwMFr26ds">pic.twitter.com/XuwMFr26ds</a></p>— Emrah Gündüz (@emrahgndz28) <a href="https://twitter.com/emrahgndz28/status/887237309988524033">July 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js</center>
The Eurasia Tunnel, which connects the Asian and European sides of Istanbul, was temporarily closed during the worst of the flooding.
Ferry services also saw significant disruption due to the stormy weather.
<center><blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">10 saniye sonrası <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ya%C4%9Fmur?src=hash">#yaÄmur</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sel?src=hash">#sel</a> <a href="https://t.co/abWh76DXhi">pic.twitter.com/abWh76DXhi</a></p>— Melih Dogan (@mmmlllhhh) <a href="https://twitter.com/mmmlllhhh/status/887193559966916608">July 18, 2017</a></blockquote>
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js</center>
Dry and pleasant weather is expected on Wednesday with a slight chance for a shower or thunderstorm on Thursday.
Report a Typo