Water Crisis in Bulgaria: Experts Cite Climate Change and Outdated Systems
The ongoing drought in Bulgaria is attributed to record-high temperatures and outdated infrastructure
On the day of Unification, Bulgaria is united by the tragedy that befell the people of the Southern Black Sea coast. Today is a day of mourning in Tsarevo. The waters took three victims, one person is still being searched for. After the water hell - destroyed roads, flooded houses and hotels, problems with power supply. Tsarevo Municipality is recruiting volunteers.
Nadezhda was among the evacuees from Arapya last night, along with her husband, son and their pet.
Nadezhda Yordanova: "We experienced a huge nightmare, a horror, I have never seen such water in my life. My water was up to my waist. All the time we were sitting there, we prayed to God to save us, to survive, to stay alive".
Drago Vladov: "If it had happened at night, there would have been many victims, in my opinion. The problem here on Arapya is that there were a lot of caravans and a lot of campers that were in the river bed and just when the water came, the river pushed all the caravans, cars and everything into the sea. Unprecedented water horror" - that's how the mayor of Tsarevo defined the hours that had passed.
Georgi Lapchev, mayor of Tsarevo municipality: "Fortunately, last night the only calls to the municipality's duty phone were from volunteers who wanted to sign up. Unfortunately, we have made sacrifices and this is something that I cannot swallow, but now the most important thing is that everyone is calm".
The flood tore away settlements, destroyed infrastructure, demolished bridges.
Nikolay Nikolaev, Director PBZN-Burgas: "Where there is a road, it is flooded, we arrive here on the spot with high-terrain equipment, an amphibious vehicle from the fire department in Burgas. There are 4 amphibians from the volunteer association, they arrived late yesterday afternoon and with this equipment, apart from being able to reach populated areas, we are also ready to take food products to those who are cut off".
Senior Commissioner Emil Pavlov, director of the Oblast Directory of the Ministry of the Interior - Burgas: "There are enough forces and equipment, we just need patience and time, we are currently going through the second stage - clearing the road, the infrastructure, there are no signals for people in distress and persons in need from evacuation. The road to Sinemorets, where the bridge is flooded, remains closed. A temporary facility will be set up there".
Desislava Paunova, member of the Board of the Agency Road Infrastructure: "This is a metal bridge that came in pieces and is assembled on site. It will be a temporary facility until a new one is built as we end the disaster emergency. It will be possible to pass by trucks, but on the road an organization will be introduced to prohibit the movement of trucks over 12 tons".
"About 4,000 tourists were affected by the flood. Everyone is safe, with food and water provided", said the Minister of Tourism.
Zaritsa Dimkova, Minister of Tourism: "What I see as implementation protocols, the hoteliers themselves have reacted very adequately and their staff and the state have also reacted adequately. I checked with the hoteliers, they have insurance for the hotels themselves, I guess the tour operators and the tourists - you know it's normal civilized things, every single business that operates and every single service has some kind of insurance".
The dams in the area are constantly being monitored, and the water level has dropped by about a meter, the director of the fire department in Burgas announced.
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