JINHA

NEWS CENTER - Eight have died and one child is missing after a flood devastated the Black Sea town of Hopa, Turkey. Locals are angry at the government for the lack of aid.

In the town of Hopa, in Artvin province, eight have died in a flood. A five-year-old child named Taha Su has gone missing. Electricity and water have been cut in the area. "There's no electricity, no water, no bread. There's no official coming to help us. We're in a desperate situation," said one Hopa resident appearing on television.

Mert Güvenç is head of the chamber of environmental engineers for the national engineer and architects association TMMOB. In a Tweet, Mert blamed the flood on the countless hydroelectric dams built on the creeks in the region without regard to environmental impacts. TMMOB had previously come out against the construction.

"Now where are those people who blamed us with empty talk, being against electricity production and being traitors to the country when we said, 'you can't hold up this much water; this place has its own dynamics?'" said Mert. "Did you think you could cut off the creeks and just direct water however you wanted?"

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