Flood

When living in paradise, it's always a shock when the snake rears it's ugly head. The recent heavy rains have caused flash floods here in Istanbul. Over 30 people have died, and several more are unaccounted for. Because we live so far away from the damage, and are so new to the area, we are using internet news agencies to give us the news. In-depth coverage is hard to come by--at least, in English. But the pictures I’ve seen are horrific. From the accounts I have read, rapid urban growth seems to be at the root of the problem.

About 15 years ago, Istanbul held two million residents. Today the population is estimated to be around fifteen to eighteen million. Most of those inhabitants came from the countryside, and chose to build houses or businesses wherever there was a vacant spot, with no regard for whether or not it was legal. After the buildings were completed, the local government was petitioned to put in the required infrastructure. They complied, so after the fact, sewer, water lines and roads were added. Sounds crazy, but that seems to be standard operating procedure around here.

In the grab for land, many river basins were filled with roads and housing flats. So when we were hit with such unrelenting rain Monday and Tuesday, and the rivers spilled over, flooding was the natural result. In the newspapers today, there has been lots of finger pointing. I’m not sure who the last person pointed at will be, but there is plenty of blame to go around.

Our complex at Istinye is built on higher ground; it’s actually quite hilly here, and we are fairly high up on the hill. We are right around the corner from the American Embassy. I figure those guys always do there homework when it comes to picking out a safe place, and indeed, someone told me yesterday that Istinye was selected because it was considered earthquake safe. Hopefully that is one disaster that will never befall this city.