Families of those missing after Turkey's worst floods in years anxiously watched rescue teams search buildings on Saturday, fearing the death toll from the raging torrents could rise further.
At least 59 people have died from the floods in the northern Black Sea region, the second natural disaster to strike the country this month.
Drone footage by Reuters showed massive damage in the flood-hit Black Sea town of Bozkurt, where emergency workers were searching demolished buildings.
Forty-six people died as a result of floods in the Kastamonu district which includes Bozkurt, and another eight people died in Sinop and one in Bartın, the Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said.
In one collapsed building along the banks of the swollen river, 10 people were still believed buried. The rapid floodwaters appeared to have swept away the foundations of several other apartment blocks.
Relatives of the missing, desperate for news, were nearby.
"This is unprecedented. There is no power. The mobile phones were dead. There was no reception. You couldn't receive news from anyone," said Ilyas Kalabalık, a 42-year-old resident.
"We had no idea whether the water was rising or not, whether it flooded the building or not. We were just waiting, like this. Our wives and children were panicked. Once sun came up in the morning, we saw police officers. They took us from the building and hurled us into a gas station."
Kalabalık was surrounded by residents who were asking each other whether anyone had any news about missing people.
"My aunt's children are there. My aunt is missing. Her husband is missing. Her twin grandchildren are missing. The wife of our building manager is missing along with their two children," Kalabalık told Reuters.
About 45 cm (18 inches) of rain fell in less than three days in one village near Bozkurt.
Torrents of water tossed dozens of cars and heaps of debris along streets, destroyed bridges, closed roads and cut off electricity to hundreds of villages.
The small town of Bozkurt lies in a valley along the banks of the Ezine river in Kastamonu province, 2.5 km (1.6 miles) from the Black Sea.
Climate scientists unequivocally say that climate change is leading to extreme weather events as the world warms because of the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. Such calamities are expected to happen more frequently as the planet warms.
Experts in Turkey, however, say interference with rivers and improper construction also were contributors to the massive damage in Turkey's floods.
Geologists have said that construction narrowed the river bed and the surrounding alluvial flood plain of the Ezine stream in Kastamonu's Bozkurt district, where the damage was most severe, from 400 meters (1,312 feet) to 15 meters (49 feet). Residential buildings were built along the waterfront.
During severe rains, the contracted stream has a limited area in which to move and can overflow. Videos posted by residents showed water rushing downstream in Bozkurt as the surrounding buildings and roads flooded.
One geologist, Ramazan Demirtaş, explained the river bed narrowing on Twitter and said that humans were to blame for this week's disaster.
AFAD said nearly 200 villages in Kastamonu and Sinop did not have access to electricity.
Rescue and relief operations continue in the flood-hit areas, the statement added.
Nearly 950 workers in Bartın, 2,807 in Kastamonu, and 1,693 in Sinop are conducting relief work in the affected areas, according to an AFAD statement.
A total of 341 people in Bartin, 1,380 in Kastamonu, and 526 in Sinop were evacuated to safe areas by helicopters and boats, statement added.
Meanwhile, 223 volunteers, nine catering trucks, and 54 vehicles sent by the Turkish Red Crescent to the region are working on the ground.
On Friday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the Bozkurt district in Kastamonu, the worst-hit flood area.
Erdoğan, addressing locals in Kastamonu's Bozkurt district, pledged on Friday to rebuild homes for those affected within a year.
"We will do our best as a state as quickly as possible, and hopefully we will rise from our ashes again," he said.
The president added that he would make an on-the-spot assessment together with Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu, and Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum. The necessary steps will be taken after the assessment, he said.
Later in the day, Erdoğan announced that the places affected had been declared a disaster area.
These places will be able to defer tax dues and local tradespeople will be allowed to postpone payments to the country's Social Security Institution. Assistance will also be provided to cover property, vehicle, and workplace losses.
Businesses' loan repayments will also be postponed, with the state preparing an emergency support plan for disaster-hit areas.
