Piles of debris, cars, and in some cases, people, were carried away by fast-racing floodwater, after heavy rains last week.

Donors at a European Union-led conference on Monday pledged 7 billion euros ($7.5 bln) to help to rebuild Turkey after last month's devastating earthquakes, while Ankara estimated the costs at more than ten times that.

The European Union's lending arm, the European Investment Bank, is to provide 500 million euros ($540 mln) for Turkey's post-earthquake rebuilding efforts, suspending an almost-total ban on financing for Turkey.

The EU executive will give 1 billion euros ($1.07 bln) to help reconstruction in Turkey, the head of the European Commission said on Monday in launching an international conference to drum up support following a devastating earthquake there last month.

The death toll due to floods in an earthquake-stricken area of Turkey has risen to 16 after officers found two more bodies. The flash floods are in the provinces of Adiyaman and Sanliurfa.

Ankara is scrambling to find reconstruction funding as the economic toll from last month’s earthquakes tops $100 billion, posing challenges for a country already struggling with a depressed currency.