Downpour strikes Istanbul: Esenler and Zincirlikuyu metro stations flooded, traffic congestion reaches 89%

Waters flowed, Istanbul halted — from midday onward, transportation on both sides of the city was nearly gridlocked. Esenler, Zincirlikuyu, and Topkapı metro stations were inundated while vehicles in a shopping mall parking lot in Sarıyer were submerged, according to Anadolu Agency.

Based on assessments from the Meteorology General Directorate, Istanbul's Governor's Office ordered all schools in the city closed on Thursday, October 15. The same officials announced that rainfall would continue tomorrow under a yellow alert.

Following heavy precipitation, a road collapsed on Eyüpsultan Boulevard; as police vehicles redirected traffic, an excavator was deployed to intervene. In Bahçelievler, a female driver trapped inside a subway underpass filled with water was rescued by AFAD teams using heavy machinery. The asphalt cracked on the Beykoz-Riva road.

According to traffic data from Anadolu Agency, congestion reached 89% — a figure meaning the usual 25-minute journey from Şişli to Kadıköy exceeded 90 minutes. Traffic queues formed on D-100 from Uzunçayır to Kartal, on TEM from Kurtköy to Çamlıca Toll Gates; the entrance to the Eurasia Tunnel was also closed from Pendik.

Meteorology and Disaster Management Professor Dr. Mikdat Kadıoğlu noted that the 104 millimeters of rainfall recorded per day has substantially filled the soil's water retention capacity, and warned: "Even 15-20 millimeters falling on October 15 will trigger surface runoff equivalent to 40-50 millimeters on dry ground." Meanwhile, seawater surged onto land along the Sarıyer coast.

Despite creek rehabilitation work carried out after the 2009 Marmara flood, streets in Kağıthane and Sarıyer turned into lakes once again this time.