A heavy downpour that hit the Mahmutlar neighbourhood of Alanya in the early hours of the morning caused flooding at the weekly Saturday market. Water levels rose due to drains blocked by rubbish, reaching the floors of numerous stalls; this disrupted traders’ ability to sell their goods and prevented members of the public from moving around the market.
Rainwater flowing down the sloping streets carried paper, plastic bags and vegetable waste into the drains in the market area. As the water drainage ceased, the market area quickly turned into a large puddle.
Market traders tried to protect their stalls and produce crates from the water. As the water rose above boot level, shoppers struggled to reach the stalls.
Celal Yaşar, a 52-year-old market trader who was at his stall during the downpour, noted that water flowing down from higher ground had caused rubbish to accumulate at the same spot. Yaşar explained that the drain had become blocked within a short time and that the water had risen high enough to cross to the other side of the road.
Yaşar described the events as follows: “Quite a few people got soaked here. Water got into their shoes; their socks and clothes were soaked. This continued until the rain stopped.”
Following the worsening of the flooding, market traders attempted to seek assistance from the relevant authorities. Celal Yaşar said they had phoned the Municipal Solutions Desk but received no response, adding, “We sorted it out ourselves; nobody came.”
The market traders opened the drains themselves to allow the accumulated water to drain away. Once the rain had stopped and the sky cleared, the stalls and market area were cleaned up, and efforts were made to resume trading.
Local residents called for the drainage channels and gullies along the sloping market route to be inspected to prevent similar flooding from recurring.
