Thu, Feb 09 2012
Zavet municipality in the Razgrad region has been in state of emergency since the night of April 23 when a tornado destroyed about 250 houses' roofs, windows and walls and uprooted many trees. More than 200 families in the villages of Zavet, Ostrovo and Soushevo were left without roofs and electricity, Bulgarian language daily Dnevnik reported.
The tornado struck shortly before 6pm on April 22 in Zavet area, passed through Tsar Kaloyan and continued on to Isperih.
Roofs of public buildings and kindergartens were destroyed. Electricity was partially cut in the municipal centre and in two of the villages. A check on overall damages is currently underway but there is no data about the number of injuries.
Roads between the villages were obstructed by uprooted trees but during the night they were cleared. The Civil Protection national service (CP) representative on shift that night said no roads or sections of roads are closed.
The villages Topchii, Pobit Kamuk, Senovo and Vyatovo were also affected, private broadcaster bTV reported on April 22. More than 13 villages remained without electricity due to the sudden, unexpected, short but strong storm.
In the village of Zavet 250 homes were affected and another 100 in the village of Topchii. None of the homes affected had property insurance.
In the regions of Bulgarian biggest Danube city, Rousse, and Shoumen there were also broken power grids and settlements without electricity. CP said the damage was not very serious and they are already working on repairs.
The discovery was made after some of the land in a complex near Bourgas was washed away by rough seas.
No trains could cross the Danube Bridge and passengers from international trains were being taken to the city of Rousse by road transport.
Hazardous weather warnings across the country on February 9, new record-low temperatures, and three people reported frozen to death in Pernik.
Opposition parties and environmental protection NGOs argued that this and other provisions were the result of lobbyist pressure from ski resort operators.
Ferry-boat service between the Bulgarian and Romanian banks of the river may continue if the ferry captains decide that the weather conditions allow the safe passage of the boats.