Flood warning: Bulgarian PM calls on people living near Kamchiya River to be ready to evacuate
Residents of areas along the Kamchiya River should be ready to evacuate because of the danger of flooding, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said on February 2.
Heavy rains have caused a sharp increase in water levels in rivers in the area, and settlement along the Kamchiya River, mainly in the Avren municipality, are endangered, Borissov said.
“I urge all residents of the settlements along the river to be ready to evacuate in order to safeguard the security of their lives,” he said.
The Kamchiya is a river of more than 244km, the longest on the Balkan Peninsula to flow directly into the Black Sea. Rising from the confluence of two rivers that spring from the eastern Stara Planina mountains, the river flows into the Black Sea 25km south of Varna.
Borissov said that he was arranging with local authorities to protect the property of residents of the area.
He said that he had ordered Interior Minister Vesselin Vuchkov, Environment Minister Ivelina Vassileva, Interior Ministry chief secretary Svetozar Lazarov and the head of the fire safety and population protection directorate, Nikolai Nikolov, to travel to Varna.
Earlier, it emerged that about 500 to 600 people were to be evacuated from the villages of Velichkovo, Grozdyovo, Dubravino and Tsonevo because of the danger that the villages would be inundated.
(Photo: Giorgio)
