Istanbul has been besieged by foul weather, with large parts of the city flooded, others lashed by ferocious winds or towering waves, sporadic hail storms forcing residents to take cover, and to top it all off, a fearsome tornado.
Despite warnings from Turkey’s General Directorate of Meteorology, the roughly 16 million residents of Istanbul could not have imagined the onslaught of bad weather that awaited them Tuesday.
A rare tornado formed off the city’s western districts, captured in all its terrifying glory by residents already fleeing the torrential rain and violent hail storms.
The city’s Sultangazi and Gaziosmanpaşa districts were inundated, with severe flooding reported in the central Kagithane district. Beleaguered citizens ran for shelter as flash floods left abandoned cars floating through the streets.
Giant waves lashed coastal areas in Yenikapı and Maltepe, on opposing sides of the city, as nature unloaded its full wrath on the embattled Bosphorus.
There were no reports of deaths or severe injury, though a local weather reporter was struck by flying debris according to Turkish media.
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