FLOODING IN PRIMORSKO AFTER THE HEAVY RAINS

A state of emergency was declared in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort town of Primorsko on 16th of July. Torrential rains caused flooding of hotels and houses and electricity has been cut off in some areas.

The heavy rains over the night led to flooding in the town of Primorsko and the villages of Yasna Polyana and Vesselie, said the Mayor of Primorsko, Dimitar Germanov over a phone interview for the BNT morning programme ‘The Day Begins’.

The river ‘Dyavolska’ was reported to have overflown. The river ‘Ropotamo’ overflew in some sections. Trees had fallen and the basements of hotels and houses had been flooded.

For the BNT mid-day news cast, Germanov said that over 60 buildings were flooded, mainly the basements and ground floors. Three signals were summited for three stranded people and by 9:30 they were rescued. 6 people were stranded on the road between Primorsko and the town of Sozopol, in the section near the ‘Ropotamo’ river.

Thanks to the boats provided by the Police and the technical equipment from the municipality, the 6 people were rescued, added the Mayor of Primorsko.

He confirmed the information of the ‘Road Infrastructure’ Agency that the road between Primorsko and Sozopol was temporarily closed, but the road Primosrsko – Yasna Polyana was open.

Most of the disruptions in the electricity network have been repaired, said the Mayor and explained that the electricity for several flood-affected hotels was cut off for safety reasons. The rest of the residential areas have power.

Germanov said that the flood recovery efforts of the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Forests and the local municipality in Priimorsko continued. Neighboring municipalities and residents also volunteered to help. Germanov said that the flood recovery unit was pumping out water, removing fallen trees and repairing electricity network problems.

Teams of the electricity distribution company EVN were working to remove the breakdowns and reconnect the electricity services in Primorsko. Some areas were left without power as a result of flooded electrical substations, roads and streets. EVN clarified that only certain parts of the town of Primosrkso and the area Germanka near Sozopol were without electricity, but the service would be restored within hours.

Police in Bourgas advise motorists to avoid travelling to the Southern Black Sea towns of Sozopol, Primorsko and Tsarevo because of the bad weather conditions.