Flood in Artvin province: 200 people evacuated

* Photos: Anadolu Agency (AA)

The stream flowing through Arhavi district center in Artvin province has overflowed its banks, badly affecting the roads, says the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) in a statement.

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), around 200 people have been evacuated due to flooding in Turkey's eastern Black Sea region.

Six people stranded in Arhavi district and nine in Murgul district have been taken to safe areas, the AFAD statement has read.

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Making a brief statement about the issue, Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca has said on Twitter that one person who was rescued from the rubble in Arhavi and taken to a hospital is in a good condition.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu have also come to see the flood-hit region.

Saying that the efforts to open the closed roads are still ongoing in Artvin's Arhavi, Interior Minister Soylu has said, "30 village roads were closed; 22 of them have been opened, 8 village roads are still closed," adding that there are also "problems in 19 highland roads." The Minister has indicated that they aim to open all roads by this evening (July 23).

Mentioning the news that one person is missing in Murgul district, Soylu has said that the efforts are underway to find the missing person:

"We have a search and rescue team. We have referred a 48-person search and rescue team to the area. We have not received any information about a loss of life, which is good news. We have been searching for one person. We hope that we will find him or her safe and sound."

There are also electricity cuts in the region. According to a statement released by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, 3,045 subscribers were left without electricity due to the floods in the neighboring provinces of Artvin and Rize. "The energy of 9,650 subscribers was cut off due to security measures", the Ministry said on its Twitter account.

In another statement later on, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources has announced that the number of subscribers facing electricity cuts in Rize and Artvin provinces has been reduced to 694.

The Ministry has also added that the number of power distribution units (transformers) affected by the flood has been reduced to 11.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez has also reportedly set off for the Black Sea region to follow the work on site.

Turkey's Search and Rescue Association (AKUT) has also rescued 18 people, including eight children, trapped in Arhavi's Mençuna Waterfall.

On the other side, the General Directorate of Meteorology has warned that heavy rainfall is expected in the Black Sea provinces of Ordu, Giresun and Trabzon and in the coastal areas of Artvin today.

CLICK - Flood in Rize: Search efforts underway for two missing people

At least six people died, with two people still missing, in flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rain last week in the Rize province. (SD)