ISTANBUL (Dispatches) -- The death toll from severe flooding in northwestern Turkey rose to nine on Monday as rescue teams recovered additional bodies, while Istanbul’s governor announced the start of compensation payments to thousands of affected residents and businesses.
Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said two more bodies were found on Monday, bringing the total deaths in Istanbul and neighboring Kocaeli province to nine. 
One victim was recovered near the Ayvansaray ferry pier on the Golden Horn, while another was found in the Gocbeyli Creek area of Pendik. Search efforts continued for one person still missing.
The floods were triggered by what officials described as the heaviest rainfall in Istanbul since records began in 1942, with between 180 and 273 liters per square meter falling last Tuesday. 
The torrential rain caused rivers to overflow and flash floods across the megacity and neighboring Kocaeli, sweeping away vehicles and inundating homes and businesses.
Governor Gul said authorities had received approximately 19,300 reports of damage. Some 2,000 homes and 900 businesses have been identified as seriously damaged, with total serious damage affecting roughly 3,000 properties. 
Compensation payments began on Monday, with an additional 2,500 residents receiving 10,000 Turkish lira each, following payments to 5,200 people on Friday.
Agricultural damage was assessed at approximately 60 million lira, covering losses to small livestock and greenhouses, Gul said. A urban transformation office has opened in the Rauf Denktas Cultural Centre to assist residents seeking to rebuild or convert their properties.
The disaster also prompted a dramatic rescue in Sakarya province’s Sapanca district, where AFAD personnel rescued an eight-month-old baby and seven others using a rope system after a stream overflowed and a bridge collapsed. 
Video footage of the rescue, in which the responder cradled and soothed the infant while suspended on a harness, was widely shared by Turkish media and praised by Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci.
In Ayazaga, one of the hardest-hit Istanbul districts, Gul said demolitions were complete but stressed that only buildings obstructing riverbeds would be removed.
“We are not demolishing every place we see, and we will not,” he said, adding that technical assessments determine which structures encroach on stream beds.
Authorities have not announced a comprehensive independent review of the flood response. The governor’s office did not respond to questions about criticism of infrastructure planning in affected areas.