floods
Relaxation after floods in Bulgaria
Firefighters with an inflatable boat evacuate people and their dogs from flooded buildings. photo
© Vaggelis Kousioras/AP/dpa
After devastating floods on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, the situation is slowly calming down again. The extent of all damage has not yet been clarified.
The situation on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast has eased after Tuesday’s devastating floods. “The situation in the of The region hit by floods is returning to normal,” said Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov after a conversation with the crisis team in the Black Sea city of Tsarevo.
According to the Interior Ministry on Thursday morning, there was no evidence of people in need or new fatalities. It hasn’t rained in the affected region since Wednesday.
Four people died in floods caused by heavy rain in Bulgaria on Tuesday – a mother and daughter and two men. South of the port city of Burgas, the flooding had severely damaged roads and bridges. Since some bridges collapsed completely, detour routes for traffic had to be found in many places.
Vacationers would now be brought back with the help of the traffic police, said Prime Minister Denkow. The tap water is flowing again, but can only be used for household purposes.
All houses for which there was evidence have been drained, fire department chief Aleksandar Dschartov told Bulgarian state radio. On Thursday it was the turn of hotels and garages. The water level of reservoirs will be reduced so that they do not overflow.
The extent of all damage could not be quantified. According to an initial estimate by Prime Minister Denkow on Wednesday, damage of more than ten million leva (around five million euros) is expected. A day later, the mayor of Tsarevo, Georgi Lapchev, saw the damage caused by the floods to the infrastructure in the Tsarevo area amounting to 30 million leva (around 15 million euros). Social workers checked the condition of the damaged buildings on Thursday. The people should be financially supported by the state.