The winter weather crisis in Bulgaria deepened on February 7 2012 as another dike was breached, sending a huge wave of water from the Maritsa River towards the southern village of Generalovo and the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint with Turkey.
 
The bursting of the Maritsa’s banks came a day after flooding in southern Bulgaria led to eight deaths. It was expected that the Cabinet would declare February 8 a day of mourning.
 
Before the Maritsa burst its banks, the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint already had been closed.
 
On February 7, most of Bulgaria was under a "Code Orange" hazardous weather warning. From 10.30am onwards, heavy goods lorries – meaning those over 10 tons – were banned from roads countrywide and authorities called on people not to travel.
 
President Rossen Plevneliev was to visit the towns of Svilengrad, which was partly evacuated on February 6, and Harmanli to inspect the situation in person.
 
Plevneliev was to assess the organisation of the evacuation and conditions at temporary accommodation for people displaced by the flooding. As Commander-in-Chief, he was also to inspect the actions taken by the Bulgarian military to assist.
 
The water from the Ivanovo dam had inundated more than 50 hectares of land, reports said.
 
While civil defence and fire brigades were at work in rescue operations, fund-raising efforts began.
 
Stock-breeders’ associations were getting together to launch a fund-raising campaign to assist those affected by the floods, Boiko Sinapov, head of the National Stock-breeders Association, was quoted by local news agency Focus as saying.
 
On February 6, public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television announced the start of a fund-raising campaign to help people hard-hit by the floods.
 
Several dams and lakes were being monitored with concern as rain and snow continued.
 
Already on February 6, the Ivailovgrad dam and the Studen Kladenets lake were reported to be on the verge of overflowing. Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry conveyed formal warnings to Greece and Turkey about the risks of overflowing.
 
In western Bulgaria, snowploughs were trapped in snow-drifts close to the village of Balsha, news agency Focus said.
 
Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naidenov said that animals that had drowned on February 6 were being taken to the town of Shoumen for incineration.
 
Naidenov said that officials would conduct a damage assessment with a view to calculating compensation.
 
Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said on February 7 that Bulgaria would approach the European Commission for financial aid to cope with the winter emergency situation.
 
European Commissioner for international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response Kristalina Georgieva conducted an in situ inspection of the flood-hit area on February 7.
 
Weather forecasts on February 7 said that the weather in Bulgaria would continue to deteriorate over the next 24 hours. From Thursday onwards, a return to minimum and maximum temperatures well below freezing was predicted.
 
Many villages were without electricity and drinking water, Bulgarian National Television said.
 
Sofia Airport was operating normally on February 7 but the airport at Plovdiv was closed because of heavy snow.