Several resorts at the southern Bulgarian seaside have declared a state of emergency, because of the ongoing rains that flooded hotels and ruined campsites.

The municipalities of Nessebar and Sozopol, near Burgas, are the worst hit, along with popular Sunny Beach resort, situated close to Nessebar. Over 20 hotels in the foreigners-frequented resort have been flooded and there are tourists trapped in some of them. Waters along the streets of Nessebar and Sunny Beach reach up to 50 centimetres and some nearby villages are devoid of electricity.

Because of its old drainage system that has no capacity to accommodate all the recently constructed hotels, Sunny Beach is now almost unreachable. There are currently about 30,000 tourists at the resort.

Those who are stuck in their own hotels, however, are still luckier than the campers at Irakli and Gradina campsites, where the waters dragged tents and trailers into the sea. A total of forty people, children included have been evacuated from Irakli where a whole camp of several tents found itself among the waves. Some campers were dragged along with their gear, and rescue teams had to send in divers to get them.

Half of the "Harmanite" beach at Sozopol has been swollen by the raving waters and many of the bars along the shore are now in ruins.

Disaster Management Minister Emel Etem has arrived in Burgas to discuss the situation. Her team and local authorities decided that there was no need to call for a state of emergency over the whole area.

The floods won't ruin the tourist season and no tourists have been injured Etem said.

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