Elderly woman dies after being blown from balcony as strong winds, heavy rains hit Bulgaria
A 75-year-old woman died after being blown by 50km/h winds from the balcony of her 15th floor apartment in the Danubian city of Rousse as parts of Bulgaria took the brunt of high winds and heavy rains.
The tragedy happened on October 29 2012 as the Bulgarian cities of Kurdjali and Haskovo were under Code Red dangerous weather warnings and all of the eastern part of the country under the lesser Code Orange weather warning.
Weather forecasters said on October 29 that heavy rain was expected to continue throughout eastern Bulgaria in the coming 24 hours.
The Black Sea port city of Bourgas was reported to have experienced among the heaviest rainfall in the country on October 29, with 90 litres a sq m recorded.
Other places that recorded heavy rainfall included Blagoevgrad, Sandanski, Gotse Delchev, Kurdjali, Haskovo, Ahtopol, CapeEmine, Elhovo and Sliven.
A day earlier, the Bourgas and Varna ports were closed because of strong winds.
However, in spite of the powerful gusts at the Black Sea port, luxury cruise ship Hamburg succeeded in docking at Bourgas on schedule on October 29, public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television said. The 150m-long cruise vessel arrived from Istanbul with 400 tourists aboard.
In the Smolyan area in the Rhodopes, heavy rain was reported to have caused landslides on the road near Chepelare and the Smolyan – Assenovgrad route.
Motorists were urged to drive carefully because of slippery road surfaces and the danger of landslides.
Some traffic disruptions were reported in the town of Sliven because of heavy rain, local media said.
Torrential rain fell in Bulgaria’s capital city ofSofia. Municipal authorities received reports of minor flooding and other problems caused by downfalls in the city areas of Krasno Selo, Triaditsa, Vitosha and Krasna Polyana.
Sofia mayor Yordanka Fandukova ordered cleaning companies to work as quickly as possible to clear tree branches and leaves brought down by the October 29 storm.
In Bulgaria’s second city of Plovdiv, torrential rain overnight reportedly caused difficulties for both motorists and pedestrians. Sections of central Plovdiv streets were flooded.
(Photo: Nasa)
