Flood

A resident of Thessaloniki drowned on Sunday after his car was swept away in a flash flood during heavy rainfall in the northern port city.

The 49-year-old man was driving in a on off-road vehicle in the suburb of Oraiokastro when his vehicle was swept away in a surge of rainwater.

There are 535 areas at risk of flooding in Bulgaria, according to an analysis of the impact of the Rural Development Program on the environment published by the Agriculture Ministry.

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Bulgaria needs an estimated BGN 3.2 M to repair flood damage to its rail infrastructure, according to caretaker Transport Minister Nikolina Angelkova.

Angelkova inspected Thursday flood-hit sections of the rail line Dimitrovgrad - Nova Zagora, according to a media statement of the Transport Ministry.

Preliminary estimates on repairs in the Bulgarian town of Mizia, which was hit by flash floods in August, have been made public.

The calculations are based on the damages of infrastructure, dwellings and public buildings alone, with the cost of food products for the most severely affected residents yet to come,

Members of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) believe that the main cause of the devastating floods in Bulgaria is human negligence, not the torrential rains.

"There are no natural disasters, there is human negligence",  the head of the National Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology at BAS, Georgi Korchev, told Vesti.bg.

Caretaker Interior Minister Yordan Bakalov said Monday sanctions could be imposed on municipalities failing to carry out prevention activities against floods and other disasters.

In an interview with the Bulgarian National Television, Bakalov explained he had sent a letter to municipalities last week to urge them to clean riverbeds and sewage infrastructure.

Nearly 80 settlements in Bulgaria have been affected by the recent floods, and the state of emergency is still valid in a number of municipalities on Monday.

The country is recovering after the heavy rains and flooding over the weekend, however there are still towns and villages left without electricity.

Novinite.com reader Philip Clayton shares his expert suggestions on reducing the risk and dealing with floods.

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150 to 200 out of a total of 700 houses in the flood-hit northwestern town of Mizia are inhabitable, according to Mayor Violin Krushovenski.

Mizia was stricken by a flood wave in early August. The floods claimed two lives and caused substantial material damage. The cause of the flooding is still being investigated as local authorities are inspecting the nearby dams.

A total of 1165 people, or 1/3 of the population of the flood-hit northwestern town of Mizia, will have to use temporary caravan accommodation.

According to a report on the damage caused by the flood in early August, which claimed two lives, a total of 23 houses collapsed and 50 houses are about to fall apart.