People were evacuated from the residential district of Gebran in Svilengrad amid the flood crisis in southern Bulgaria on February 6 2012.
 
The floods, which caused eight deaths in the area of the village of Bisser in the Harmanli district after a dam wall broke, resulted from a combination of heavy rainfall and washing away of thick layers of snowfall from lower altitudes.
 
The death toll around Bisser was reported to be eight. Damage to houses and surrounding property is extensive as surrounding land was inundated.
 
In the Gebran district of Svilengrad, water had risen to about 1.5 metres in depth, local news agency Focus said.
 
A "Code Red" weather warning was declared in the Haskovo and Smolyan districts, the Interior Ministry said.
 
Railway transport has been suspended on the Radnevo-Lyubenovo-Simeonovgrad-Harmanli and Harmanli-Svilengrad-Lyubimets stretches.
 
Along with the flooding crisis came a warning that weather in the Haskovo weather would worsen in the coming 24 hours.
 
Teams and equipment of the Ministry of Interior, Bulgarian Red Cross, Ministry of Environment and Water and the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods have been mobilised in the areas affected by flooding.
 
The European Commission stands ready to help people in affected areas, provided such assistance is requested.
 
If needed, Brussels can send tents, blankets, generators, heating and special rescue equipment. The European Commission is in constant contact with the Bulgarian Government, Bulgarian television station TV 7 said.
 
"If the Government's assessment is that there is a need for European support, we can offer three things: firstly - to provide for the affected people, if necessary, tents, blankets, if you need, generators if there are power cuts," European Commissioner for crisis response Kristalina Georgieva said.
 
"Secondly - we will give 50 per cent funding for transport to bring modules. Thirdly – we have informed our Finnish colleagues, we have a special module to work to rescue people in the cold, in extremely severe winter conditions at very low temperatures. And if we receive a request for co-ordination of aid from Europe, we will immediately do so," Georgieva said.
 
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said that the Cabinet would approve a grant of aid to the victims of floods in the Haskovo region.

Apart from the Code Red weather warnings declared, most the rest of Bulgaria faced a Code Orange weather warning for February 7, with a few facing the lesser Code Yellow warning.