The death toll from floods and mudslides in northern Turkey rose to at least 38 on Friday, officials said, as emergency crews searched collapsed buildings, swamped homes, and submerged basements for more victims and survivors.

An opposition politician said more than 300 people may be unaccounted for.
Torrential rains that pounded the Black Sea coastal provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu, Sinop and Samsun on Wednesday caused the flooding that demolished homes and bridges and swept away cars.

More than 1,700 people were evacuated across the region, some lifted from rooftops by helicopters, and many were being temporarily housed in student dormitories. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on Twitter late Friday that 32 people died in Kastamonu and six in Sinop.

In Kastamonu, a stream burst its banks and inundated the town of Bozkurt. Raging floodwaters demolished one waterfront building and severely damaged two neighboring buildings. A number of bodies washed up on the Black Sea shore, Halk TV reported, airing footage of people carrying a body bag on a beach in an unidentified province.

The floods struck on the heels of wildfires in southern Turkey that devastated forest lands in the seaside provinces of Mugla and Antalya that are popular with tourists. At least eight people died and thousands of residents were forced to flee.

Scientists say there is little doubt that climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is driving more extreme events, such as heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods and storms. Such calamities are expected to happen more frequently as the planet warms.

Hasan Baltaci, an opposition party lawmaker who represents Kastamonu, told Halk TV television that residents had contacted Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD, seeking information about 329 people feared missing. He cautioned that some of the names could be duplicated and that others could be of people who were unable to contact loved ones.

The missing include 12-year-old twin sisters and their grandparents who were trapped inside the eight-story building that collapsed in the town of Bozkurt. Emergency crews were seen sifting through the rubble searching for survivors.

(With AP inputs)