Cold weather, snow and wind block Eastern Bulgaria

Hurricane wind wreaked havoc along the seaside yesterday and the situation remained dire all the day. Bad weather caused water blockage in Bulgaria. It completely blocked the eastern part of the country and the regions of Razgrad, Silistra, Ruse, Shumen were closed for traffic because of large snowdrifts.

Huge waves and wind destroyed port facilities and boats in the towns of Pomorie, Tsarevo and Ahtopol. Emergency was declared in Pomorie and the ports of Varna and Burgas were closed. The waves at Varna reached 5-6 meters and those in the open sea were even greater.

In Burgas, the sea flooded the road to the salt works, and the supply of salt for the snow cleaning companies was suspended. A fishing village was flooded near Kranevo and the tide caused a landslide in a resort in Aheloy.

In the afternoon, the commercial traffic on the Bulgarian stretch of the Danube river was halted. The Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications specified that the ferries, serving our links with Romania, will travel only in exceptional circumstances and after permission by the authorities. In Vidin, the ice drifts reached 50% and near Ruse the river froze at 90%. Hydrologists and meteorologists warned that if the low temperatures persist for another few days, the Danube river near Ruse may completely freeze. The Romanian authorities closed their part of the river for traffic.

In north-eastern Bulgaria and in the region of Blagoevgrad dozens of trucks were blocked, waiting for better weather conditions and the drivers received water and food. A bus with Romanian tourists remained trapped by the snow for 24 hours near Ruse. Part of the Romanian citizens staged a demonstration and blocked for 20 minutes the snowy road.

Some 6 trains stopped travelling in different parts of the country because of the bad weather. Officials from the National Railway Infrastructure Company announced that the rail transport was hampered by the snowdrifts and strong wind, which in some places had even turned the arrows on the railways. Some of the trains stopped after they had left from their initial stations. Travellers were delayed by about 2 and half hours on average.

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