Karavelovo village also cut off by floods, situation remains difficult

The situation remains difficult in other settlements in the Karlovo region in central Bulgaria after the floorings caused by the torrential rain. The situation is most complicated in several villages through which the overflowing Stryama river passes. The Troyan-Karnare pass is closed to traffic because of a collapse. Access to the village of Rozino is restricted. In some places there afe power outages.

Village of Bodgan cut off by floods, people in distress, no reports of dead or injured

An unprecedented water disaster has befallen the people in the village of Karavelovo. The situation here remains complicated. The village is divided into three by water and is accessible only from the main road to the village of Banya, but even there the bridge is closed. The bridges that connect Karavelovo with neighbouring settlements were literally swallowed by the water today. It also flooded the Sub-Balkan road. A canning and food preservation workshop and a house in the village of Stoletovo were literally taken over by the Stryama river.

Homes flooded, residents evacuated as river in the village of Bogdan burst its banks (video)

The bridge of the village of Slatina is compromised, there are flooded shops and houses, and the whole village of Rozino is under water, where acess is possible only with all-terrain vehicles. There are fallen electricity poles and the electricity supply is limited. The critical situation has united the efforts of state, military, local and municipal structures. There are volunteers ready to help.

A huge flash flooding woke people up in Karavelovo early this morning.

"There was knee-deep water and since then the water has been steadily going up, not stopping, until now. It reached one and a half metrres, now 20 minutes ago it was one and a half metres," said one of the people in distress.

"This morning at 6:30 heavy rain and the uncleaned riverbed made a dam and you can see for yourself what it's all about, over 500 thousand BGN is our loss," said Hristo Atanasov - owner of a food preservation factory.

In places. The water level reached two metres.

"It is a miracle that so far we have no dead and injured people, it is really a miracle, such a flood pouring out of the sky does not happen every time," said Chief Commissioner Nikolai Nikolov - Director of DG “Fire Safety and Population Protection”.

Rescue activities to remove people from the flooded areas are continuing.

"Two women with one child have been rescued, at the moment six people with ropes are being pulled out and rescued, a rescue operation is underway," explained Krasimir Dimitrov - Sofia Rescue Service.

"We are planning to use helicopters to deliver food and water to those on the other side of the river. Specialists are on their way to look at the area to see where a pontoon bridge can be placed so that we can make the connection with the other side of the river," said Admiral Emil Eftimov - Chief of Defence.Teams of volunteers have been deployed since noon along the Stryma River to its confluence with the Maritsa River to inform about any appearance of a new water surge.

"This is the first time I've seen so much water and people are rightly reacting because it's maybe the second or third time they've been flooded by this particular river in heavy rain. I really think that the state should take measures to clean the riverbed," said Miroslav Kolev, mayor of Stoletovo village.

An investigation into the causes of the flood has also been launched by the National Investigation Service.

"We have initial evidence of uncontrolled cutting of trees, which could be linked," said Yuliana Petkova, deputy director of the National Investigative Service.

The flooded areas have been inspected by drone to gather evidence.