The Bulgarian government has announced an emergency in Strumyani municipality on Tuesday after a violent torrent flooded a community in the southwestern part of the Balkan country and interrupted water and electricity service, railway operations and road transport.
Two significant waves swept through the Strumyani municipality on Monday evening along the Shashka and Zlinska mountain rivers, damaging road infrastructure in the Blagoevgrad region, Bulgaria’s Public Radio stated. So far, seven people were evacuated from their homes. No deaths or other seriously injured persons were reported.
Emergency rescue teams have worked to unblock the roads in Strumyani and the municipality, where many trees have been uprooted by the water and road communications to Strumyani and other nearby settlements, like Ilindentsi, are almost blocked due to river sediments.
“The intensity of precipitation late last night was rather high,” Bulgarian director of the Main Directory for Fire and Population Protection Alexander Dzhartov was quoted as telling the media. He added that emergency services’ movement was complicated due to damaged roads and warned that a big job should be done to restore order. The municipality has already been left without power, water and rail links.
The flooding of Strumyani municipality is occurring simultaneously with fires and floods affecting some regions of the Balkan country.
