Several buildings suffered serious damage after a tornado accompanied by strong gusts of wind struck the district of Ahlat, in the province of Bitlis, in eastern Turkey, at midday on Wednesday. The phenomenon, which was filmed by several witnesses, ripped the roofs off several blocks of flats and sent debris flying through the air, causing moments of panic among residents in the area.
According to reports from local media in Türkiye, the strong wind began to pick up around midday, disrupting daily life in the area; shortly afterwards, a tornado began to form and swept through the town of Ahlat, which has a population of around 27,000, causing the roofs of several buildings to be blown off and scattering the debris across the surrounding area.
Footage recorded by several witnesses on their mobile phones captured the moment when debris from the roofs was flying through the air. After receiving the alert, members of the fire brigade from Ahlat Town Council travelled to the scene, where they cordoned off the damaged buildings and asked the public to remain on alert due to the risk of further debris falling.
An increasingly frequent phenomenon due to climate change
One of the witnesses, Yunus Alçiçek, explained that he was at work when the incident occurred: “We were sitting at work around midday. It started to rain and, after the rain, a storm formed. We looked outside and saw that the roofs of the buildings were being torn off by the wind and that the buildings had also been damaged.”
Mehmet Sait Değnek, a local resident, said he was driving his car when the tornado struck, so he decided to pull over to avoid the danger. “Whilst I was driving, a heavy hailstorm suddenly broke out. Immediately afterwards, a storm and a tornado formed, and suddenly sheets of metal and pieces of wood were hurled through the air. I pulled the car over straight away because fragments of the roof could have fallen on the vehicle. I filmed the incident at that moment. It was a sudden, very violent natural phenomenon,” said the witness.
Climate change is causing extreme weather events, including tornadoes, to become increasingly frequent and intense in Turkey, where they tend to affect coastal towns in particular as they form over the sea and – on occasions – move inland; this is the case in Ahlat, a town situated on the shores of Lake Van, Turkey’s largest lake.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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