ISTANBUL — A city of 16 million ground to a halt this week after the heaviest rain in Istanbul's recorded history turned streets into rivers, swept cars down hillsides and killed at least two people, including a 14-year-old boy electrocuted when he stepped into a puddle.

The boy was playing in Çukurbostan Park in the historic Balat neighborhood on Wednesday evening when he touched a live wire exposed by the floodwater, according to Istanbul's governor's office. He was rushed to hospital unconscious and could not be revived. Authorities have opened an investigation into the electrocution, Al Jazeera reported.

Officials said at least one more person died in the flooding, which began Tuesday night and intensified through Wednesday, dumping nearly 194 millimeters (7.6 inches) of rain on the Beykoz district on the Asian side of the Bosphorus — a one-day total acting mayor Nuri Aslan said was unlike anything the city's drainage system was built to handle.

"Since Records Began"

"WE ARE TALKING HERE ABOUT THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF PRECIPITATION IN ISTANBUL SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1942," Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said, urging residents to stay off the roads and to move out of basement apartments overnight.

Emergency crews logged more than 2,500 weather-related incidents in a single 14-hour stretch — including 1,277 separate flooding events and 15 landslides — according to figures relayed by Euronews. Forty-seven people were stranded by rising water, and roads caved in in the Eyupsultan and Gaziosmanpasa districts.

Dramatic footage showed floodwater lifting parked cars off the ground and carrying them down a hillside in the northern Sariyer district, while rescuers used a mechanical excavator's bucket to lift pedestrians trapped by rising water to safety. Floodwater poured through the ceiling of the Haciosman metro station and reached the historic Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar, soaking shops, while two hospitals also reported water intrusion.

More than 800 homes, 280 businesses and 76 vehicles were damaged, and the Kagithane stream overflowed, briefly shutting a major road tunnel. Istanbul Airport diverted 43 inbound flights and Sabiha Gokcen Airport diverted three more, with departures there briefly grounded by high winds, Turkish Minute reported.

City officials shut schools across Istanbul, placed some public employees on administrative leave, and banned motorcycles and scooters from roads from 9 p.m. Wednesday "until further notice." Around 8,000 personnel and 2,000 vehicles and pieces of heavy machinery were deployed to pump out flooded streets and clear debris.

Turkey, which the World Bank has flagged as increasingly vulnerable to flash flooding, drought and wildfire, lost more than 80 people to Black Sea flooding in 2021. The latest disaster comes less than a month before Turkey hosts the United Nations' COP31 climate conference in Antalya. Forecasters warned the heavy rain was expected to continue into the weekend.