Update, Oct. 16, 2026: Later reports on Thursday, Oct. 15 put the toll at three dead and several missing, with counts differing by source. The Associated Press, citing the governor’s office, reported three dead and five missing. Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said three people had died (one by electric shock, two by drowning) and six were missing, five from Istanbul and one from Kocaeli, and that 3,055 people had been rescued, according to Türkiye Today. Hürriyet Daily News reported a fourth death, construction worker Faik Şentürk, who fell into a well in Beykoz; Daily Sabah and Turkish Minute, citing Anadolu and DHA, had three dead and four missing. Governor Davut Gül’s rainfall claim was worded as “the highest level of precipitation in Istanbul since records began in 1942,” according to AFP; the Associated Press quoted Environment Minister Murat Kurum as saying the heaviest rainfall in 83 years, and the Istanbul municipality said some readings were the highest since 1985. Daily Sabah, citing the municipality’s disaster center, reported 269.5 mm in Beykoz between midnight Tuesday and 7:30 a.m. Thursday; Çiftçi said up to 272 mm fell. The Governor’s Office, citing the weather service, said showers return Friday morning and cover all of Istanbul on Saturday. The article below was written the morning of Oct. 15, and its figures are unchanged.
At least three deaths have been reported after flooding in Istanbul on Oct. 14-15, according to Hurriyet Daily News and Turkiye Today; the BBC and The National reported two. The BBC reported that nearly 600 people had been rescued. Istanbul’s governor called it the heaviest rainfall in 84 years.
This account was current as of about 9:30 a.m. EDT (4:30 p.m. in Istanbul) on Thursday, Oct. 15; Istanbul is seven hours ahead of New York (EDT). Schools in the city are closed for two days, and more rain is forecast through Oct. 17. More than 16 million people live in the broader Istanbul metropolitan area, according to the BBC.
Figures below come from news outlets reporting on statements by the governor’s office, the city municipality and other officials. They changed through the morning, and the counts differ from one outlet to the next.
What happened and when
Hurriyet Daily News said the downpour began on the night of Oct. 14 and flooded homes and businesses, inundated roads and underpasses, stranded vehicles and brought traffic to a standstill. Turkiye Today placed the flooding on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The National’s account differs on the start: it said the unusually heavy rain “began on Tuesday and continued into Wednesday.”
By Thursday morning, Oct. 15, flooding had continued. Hurriyet Daily News described it as “one of its heaviest downpours on record.”
The deaths
The BBC, citing BBC Turkish, reported two deaths. One was a 14-year-old boy who was electrocuted after stepping in a puddle. The other was a 34-year-old man who slipped while trying to cross a road and hit his head on the pavement.
Turkiye Today placed the boy’s death in the Fatih district, at a park in Balat, and said the Istanbul Governor’s Office confirmed he was taken to a hospital unconscious and could not be saved. The BBC reported that the governorship is investigating his death. Turkiye Today said officials have not yet officially determined the source of the electrical current. The 34-year-old man was in the Sariyer district, according to Hurriyet Daily News and Turkiye Today.
A third body was found along a stream in the Kagithane district, according to Hurriyet Daily News; Turkiye Today put it near Sadabad Park. Turkiye Today said local media reports described the person as having gone missing in Sariyer and being believed to have been carried by floodwater into Kagithane. Hurriyet Daily News said the man was reportedly in his 40s and that police have opened an investigation. His identity had not been established in those reports.
How much rain fell
Governor Davut Gul said Istanbul had its heaviest rainfall in 84 years, according to the BBC and Hurriyet Daily News. The National, reporting his Thursday-morning press conference, quoted him as saying it was “the highest level of precipitation recorded in Istanbul since 1942,” when records began.
That statement refers to the whole city. The municipality’s wording is different: Hurriyet Daily News said readings were among the highest since 1985, and Turkiye Today tied that wording to the 242 mm reading in Beykoz. The outlets do not reconcile the two baselines.
Turkiye Today, citing the municipality, gave district totals of 242 millimeters in Beykoz, 190.5 mm in Eyupsultan and 187.9 mm in Sariyer. A millimeter of rain is the same as one kilogram of water per square meter. The National, citing the municipality, said many areas had received more than 100 mm since early Wednesday and gave 242 mm for Beykoz. None of the outlets state the period over which the district totals were measured.
Hurriyet Daily News reported that 272 kilograms per square meter, which is 272 mm, fell in some parts of the city, and described it as roughly one-seventh of the area’s annual rainfall. The BBC, citing the interior minister, likewise said some areas had seen rainfall equal to one-seventh of the annual average. Neither outlet gives the annual figure, and the arithmetic does not obviously fit: one-seventh would imply about 1,900 mm of rain a year. The 272 figure is also higher than the highest district total reported, 242 mm in Beykoz, and Hurriyet Daily News does not tie it to a station.
Rescues and disruption
Deputy Mayor Nuri Aslan said 595 people had been evacuated to safe areas after becoming trapped, and that more than 8,000 workers were responding, according to the BBC.
Turkiye Today reported that the Governor’s Office logged 1,277 flooding incidents, 15 landslides and 47 cases of people stranded during Wednesday’s rainfall, while the municipality received 6,937 emergency reports. It said more than 8,000 personnel and 2,000 vehicles and machines were deployed. Hurriyet Daily News reported more than 1,000 flooding incidents, and The National, citing the governorship, more than 1,200 flooding reports.
Unless noted, details in the rest of this section are from Hurriyet Daily News. At a concrete plant in Sariyer, workers stranded overnight were rescued with a front-end loader after floodwater cut off the exits. One rescued worker, Omer Artik, told reporters that about 30 people were still waiting to be evacuated from the facility; the report does not time the remark. He also said: “We have been stranded here for 14 hours. The loader brought us here, and we have only just been rescued.”
Air travel was hit as well, and the counts differ by outlet:
- Turkiye Today, citing the Transport Ministry, said 43 aircraft unable to land at Istanbul Airport were diverted, 39 within Turkey and four abroad.
- The BBC, citing BBC Turkish, and Hurriyet Daily News said 46 aircraft were unable to land.
- The National said the governor stated that 51 flights were diverted at Istanbul Airport and another 19 were cancelled.
Turkiye Today also reported that operations at Sabiha Gokcen Airport were interrupted by strong wind and wind shear, a sudden change in wind speed or direction, and resumed at 10:02 p.m. Wednesday, Istanbul time.
On the ground, Turkiye Today said flooding affected metro stations, underpasses and major roads, including the Sile Highway near Cekmekoy. It said several tram and metro lines resumed normal operations on Thursday morning. The BBC reported that metro hours were extended to 2 a.m. Istanbul time and that the water flooded a shopping-centre car park in Sariyer. Local media, it said, reported road sections collapsing in other areas.
Hurriyet Daily News added that runoff turned parts of the Bosphorus brown, in some places up to about 200 meters from the shoreline.
What officials told residents
Authorities urged people to stay home unless travel was absolutely necessary and advised those in basement apartments to spend the night elsewhere, according to Hurriyet Daily News.
Schools in Istanbul are closed Thursday and Friday, Oct. 15-16, according to the BBC and Hurriyet Daily News. Turkiye Today listed six provinces that suspended classes on Thursday: Istanbul, Duzce, Zonguldak, Sakarya, Kocaeli and Yalova.
Hurriyet Daily News and The National said motorcycles were banned from traffic; Turkiye Today described restrictions on motorcycles, scooters and similar two-wheeled vehicles in Istanbul and Yalova. The BBC, citing Turkish media, reported that employees who are disabled, pregnant or veterans would be granted administrative leave on Thursday, unless they work in health, safety and rainwater drainage fields, and that women in the public sector with children under 8 would also be granted leave. Hurriyet Daily News said some public employees were expected to be placed on leave.
Aslan urged the public to use public transport instead of private cars and to stay alert, particularly at night, the BBC reported.
What forecasters say is next
Gul said rain is expected to continue for another two to three days, according to The National and Hurriyet Daily News, which reported it as expected through Oct. 17.
Turkiye Today carried a warning from the municipality’s disaster coordination center, AKOM, in a page stamped 9:11 a.m. Istanbul time, of 50 to 75 mm more in some districts by 10 a.m. Thursday. That window has passed, and the outlets do not say how much fell.
Meteorologist Mikdat Kadioglu, a professor, warned that even the lower rainfall forecast for Oct. 16 could trigger further serious flooding, because the saturated ground has little capacity to absorb more water, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
The BBC reported that the interior ministry also warned of sudden flooding in several provinces. The National reported that streets were also impassable in the Mediterranean city of Antalya and that the state weather service issued warnings for more heavy rain and wind across the country on Thursday.
What is not known
As of the morning of Oct. 15, the third victim’s identity had not been established in the reports; the update above gives the later counts of dead and missing.
None of the outlets quoted here name the weather system behind the downpour or give a damage estimate. The flight counts have not been reconciled, and the 272 figure could not be tied to a measuring station.