Residents Swim In Streets Of Istanbul As City Floods From Intense Storm; Bosporus Briefly Closed

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - People had to swim to safety in the flooded streets of Istanbul on Tuesday after heavy rain and storms brought chaos to Turkey's largest city and caused shipping traffic on oil and grain routes through the Bosphorus Strait to be suspended for some hours.

Many roads, bridges, tunnels and metro stations were flooded and cars submerged in torrential downpours that followed two hours of lightning flashes across the city. Television footage showed people swimming in the streets and being rescued by boats from streets and flooded houses.

Heavy rainfall and poor visibility caused traffic through the Bosphorus, an important international shipping lane for oil and grain, to be suspended from 8.30 a.m. (0530 GMT) to midday, shipping agents said.

Turkish authorities also closed the Dardanelles strait to tankers longer than 200 meters after an oil tanker ran aground, but also reopened the strait at noon.

EDIT

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-shipping-bosphorus-idUSKBN1A316A