An Example for the Disasters Caused by Improper Land Use: The Kayakoy Polje Flood of January 31, 2019

Abstract

Kayakoy Polje is a typical karst depression 6 km south of the city of Fethiye, extending for a length of 5 km, with a width of 2 km, and covering an area of 5 km2 at 140 m from the sea level. On January 31, 2019, heavy rainfall occurred in Fethiye, which is on the southwestern coast of Turkey, flooding settlements and agricultural areas on the nearby Kayakoy Polje. Following the process whereby a flood escalates into a disaster, a study was performed to investigate the roles of precipitation, karst processes, and land use, and solutions were proposed. Within the scope of the land surveying work that followed, the spatial information obtained with the help of drones, satellite images, and data collected by meteorological stations were analyzed using geographic information systems to create maps and other outputs. These findings implicated rapid development in the basin, in addition to the strong torrents that accelerated in a very short time, causing flooding in the region. The development activities altered the natural drainage and slope conditions, rendering flood protection structures useless, clogging sinkholes, or turning them into concrete wells. It was concluded that as long as improper land use, which triggered the flood, continued, flood and other disasters were bound to repeat.