Authorities Declare State of Emergency in Bulgaria's Mezdra Due to Rain, Floods

A state of emergency was declared at midnight in the northwestern Bulgarian town of Mezdra due to the torrential rainfalls and floods.

This was announced by the mayor of the municipality Nikolina Katovska, daily Dnevnik reports.

Ground floors, basements, yards and streets, mainly in the lower parts of the town have been flooded due to the intensive rainfalls, which were accompanied by hail.

The international road E-79 between Mezdra and Vratsa as well as in the section near Lyuti Dol was temporarily closed overnight, but the traffic has been resumed.

The trains between Mezdra and the village of Ruska Byala is temporarily suspended and the trains are running on alternative tracks.

A wall has collapsed on a fourth-class road in the village of Vodenets and the road is expected to be cleared on Monday.

There was also a landslide on the second-class road Rebarkovo - Lyutibrod and firefighters are currently working on clearing the road.

The residents of Vodenets have been evacuated due to the overflown river Iskar.

A river, which is a tributary of Iskar, overflew in the village of Moravitsa, but so far there is no information on people in emergency.

According to the mayor of Mezdra, the situation is slowly returning back to normal.

There was also a torrential rainfall in Sofia, which left eight quarters and six nearby villages without electricity.