In Turkey's earthquake-affected area, flash floods on Wednesday claimed the lives of at least 14 people who were living in tents and shipping containers, adding to the pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before crucial elections.
According to authorities, many people were lost in the raging flood that transformed roadways into muddy rivers in the districts affected by last month's 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
The tragedy on February 6 killed more than 48,000 people in Turkey and about 6,000 in Syria, making it the worst event in the area in recent times.
Tents and container houses have been erected for hundreds of thousands of Turkish earthquake survivors throughout the disaster area, which includes 11 provinces in the southeast of Turkey.
The meteorological service predicts that Tuesday's torrential rains will continue through late Wednesday.
Twelve people were reportedly killed by floods in Sanliurfa, Turkey, which is 50 kilometres north of the Syrian border.
A one-year-old and another person perished in adjacent Adiyaman, where five others are still missing.
In one popular video, a man wearing a beige suit and tie calls out for assistance as he floats down a fast-moving stream next to some furniture. His destiny is still a mystery.
Erdogan is facing a fierce public backlash over his government's bungled reaction to the largest natural catastrophe of his two-decade rule as he prepares to run for re-election on May 14.
Erdogan has made multiple public apologies while reiterating that no country could have responded to the crisis in a timely manner.
Erdogan has been travelling the area over the past three weeks, visiting with survivors, and making promises to reconstruct the entire region within a year.
Erdogan said in a parliamentary speech on Wednesday that his government will construct 319,000 homes by the end of the year.
Erdogan said in a parliamentary speech on Wednesday that his government will construct 319,000 homes by the end of the year.
"We have a pledge to our nation to repair the cities damaged by the earthquake within a year," he continued, in addition to the search and rescue, emergency relief, and temporary housing we have so far supplied.
In order to direct the government's response, Erdogan sent his interior minister to the area that had been inundated.
Suleyman Soylu, the interior minister, told reporters, "Right now, we have 10 teams made up of 163 individuals working on search and rescue throughout a 25km area.
"We have divers, too. Nonetheless, the weather is making things difficult for us," he remarked.
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