A Research of Samsun City Floods with Infrastructure Problems

Authors : Neslihan Beden, Hesham Alrayess, Aslı Ulke

Pages : 22-34

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Publication Date : 2018-08-28

Article Type : Research

Abstract :Samsun is the largest city of the Turkey’s Middle Blacksea region, between Kizilirmak and Yesilirmak river deltas. With a height of 735 mm mean annual precipitation Samsun is above the national average. In addition to Kizilirmak and Yesilirmak rivers, there are many large and small streams in study area. Samsun city is exposed to floods every two to three years. A long-time series of damaging flood records in Samsun for 1960–2017, gathered from many documentary sources, is reviewed. In this study, a historical chronology of Samsun city floods has given the reasons for flood, the relationship between existing engineering structures with flood events, and to minimize flood damage in the event of any flood precautions to be taken by local authorities are discussed. Depending on the rapid growth and development of urbanization, the decrease of rural areas, the paving of soil floors with concrete and asphalt and impermeable materials, most of the precipitation has become runoff, and besides the infrastructure system has not been able to carry that flow. Some dry stream beds were ignored and transform into the streets, stream beds were zoned for construction and multi-story buildings were built on them. Over the years, a filling area of about 500 m was built in the sea-facing part of the city. For this reason, rainwater which coming from the sloping southern ceiling reaches to the flat area and must reach the sea through the filling. The lack of adequate infrastructures caused the water could not reach the sea and caused a wound in this region. According to the data of the State Hydraulic Works, over the last 20 years, more than 300 floods have come to the whole of Turkey and about 500 people have lost their lives in these floods. Floods are natural phenomena for Turkey like earthquakes, but the human factor is turned these natural phenomena into a disaster.
Keywords : Flood History, Samsun, Turkey