Rize

With torrential rains and thunderstorms gripping the country, the Turkish State Meteorology Service has issued severe weather warnings against possible disasters in 14 of the country's 81 provinces, including Istanbul, urging citizens to exercise caution.

A 26-year-old Norwegian cyclist has lost his life after being hit by a truck in the northern province of Trabzon's Sürmene district.

The incident occurred in the Çamburnu tunnel on Oct. 23, when Steffene Emil Snppene was struck by the vehicle while traveling from Trabzon to the nearby city of Rize.

In Greece, they expect the unprecedented bad weather to begin to subside today. The floods in the country claimed three lives. Turkey reported seven dead.

In the area of the Black Sea resort of Ineada in the district of Kirklareli bordering Bulgaria, rivers overflowed and many bungalows and caravans were swept into the sea. Five of the victims are in this area, two are in Istanbul.

Illegal constructions in the highlands of the eastern Black Sea region pose a threat to the environment, as an expert warns that the primary cause of pollution in the sea is the waste dumped around these areas, which reaches the Black Sea coast.

A group of researchers, led by Head of the Department of History at Ondokuz Mayıs University Okay Pekşen, discovered rock paintings of about 3,000 years old during their research in the Northern province of Rize's İkizdere district. The paintings are thought to belong to the Bozkurt tribes.

The Turkish State Meteorological Service has issued a torrential rain warning for the northern provinces and has declared "yellow" and "orange" alerts for Giresun, Trabzon, Rize and Artvin.

According to the bureau's latest weather report, torrential rains are expected especially in Marmara and Black Sea regions.

The members of the women's cooperative operating in the Black Sea province of Rize's Pazar district, which received two tons of linden orders from Saudi Arabian businesses, with the support of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, have started to harvest.

Workers from African countries, who filled the void to pick tea in the northern province of Rize last year after the border was sealed for Georgian workers due to the coronavirus pandemic, have lent a hand to Turkish tea plantation owners this year too.

Workers from Gambia, Senegal, Sudan and Zambia, residing in Turkey with work permits, flocked to Rize to pick tea.

A Tea Library, the first of its kind in Turkey, has been launched at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University in the Black Sea province of Rize.

Currently, the library holds 938 volumes of books, all dedicated to tea, which is one of Turkish people's favorite hot drinks.

The average seawater temperature in the Black Sea has risen from 8.1 degrees Celsius to 10 degrees Celsius as a result of global warming, an expert has said.