Emergency declared, bridges down after heavy rain hits villages in Vidin area in Bulgaria

A state of emergency has been declared in the municipality of Ruzhintsi in Bulgaria after torrential rain inundated the area, also flooding villages in the Vidin area, damaging bridges, private property and roads.

The emergency was announced after an April 24 special meeting at Ruzhintsi municipal headquarters of the crisis staff headed by Vidin deputy regional governor Nikolai Todorov.

Overnight, about 60 people were evacuated after the heavy rain in recent days flooded the villages of Gyurgich and Pleshivets.

While Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry said that there had been no serious damage, public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television reported that the mayors of the affected villages said that a house had been destroyed, yards flooded, cars deluged and bridges had collapsed.

• Separate reports said that 10 bridges had been destroyed in the Ruzhintsi area because of the pouring rain that began in the area on April 18 and was continuing on April 24.

• The bridges that were destroyed were in the villages of Ruzhintsi, Byalo Pove, Drenovets, Pleshivets, Roglets and Drazhintsi.

A disaster was declared in Chouprene Municipality on April 20 after the Gorni Lom River overflowed its banks.

• Overflowing dams flooded dozens of houses in Vidin overnight, bTV reported.

Meanwhile, coloured rain fell overnight in Bulgaria, a phenomenon resulting from sand being borne from the Sahara by a cyclone that formed over northern Africa earlier in the week and which has been moving north-east, and was reportedly centred over Albania and Macedonia on April 24.

The Bulgarian Academy of Science said that the rain was not harmful.
[sofiaglobe.com]
24/4/14
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