Author(s): Gürkan YILMAZ, Galip USTA
Although natural disasters originate from natural sources, factors such as climate change, improper land use, natural destruction, irregular construction, low level of disaster risk perception by the society, failure of individuals to exhibit the right attitude and behavior at the time of disaster, service fault of administration (late, deficient or no delivery of the service) and poverty affect the growth of the results. The aim of this study is to assess the factors that led to an increase in the effect and occurrence of the flood resulting in 8 casualties and missing 3 people as a result of the rain which extraordinarily poured at a rate of 255 liters/m2 in approximately 6 hours in the Hopa district of Artvin province on 24.08.2015. In this context, various newspaper reports related to the flood, press releases, various reports written after the disaster, scientific studies and the written data obtained from the Provincial Disaster and Emergency Directorate of Artvin were analyzed. In addition, the geographical structure of the region and topographic features, climate, demographic characteristics and other factors are evaluated in general and the study is aimed to be considered holistically. 3294 citizens were affected by the disaster, 60.695.919,00 TL was found to be citizens' loss, and this crossed 120.000.000,00 TL together with the public loss. The zoning of the Sundura Neighborhood, where flood waters are collected and deaths are the highest, permitting construction of the river beds, hydroelectric power plants, ignoring the environmental impact assessment of the Black Sea Coastal Project and narrowing the stream beds are the reasons for the increase in the impact of the disaster. 81.25% of the city area is over a slope of more than 30%, and 62.94% is located on a seventh-class land. In addition to these reasons, the total annual precipitation of Hopa coasts is 1400-1600 mm and the geographical, climate and topographic characteristics of the region are other factors that increase the severity of the disaster. The data and forecasts obtained by the administration with early warning systems did not go beyond the knowledge of the future of the danger; It has shown that there is a lack of informing the public about the flood warning. In addition, it was determined that the public exhibited negative behaviors such as taking photos and videos on the edges of overflowing streams, and it is important to provide training to the public about the attitudes and behaviors to be made during flood
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