1000 locations without electricity after the onset of winter in Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, a homeless man froze to death in the freezing cold of winter. He was found lifeless by garbage cans in the central Bulgarian town of Kasanlak, the Nova television station reported on Sunday.
More than 1000 places in the Balkan country had to make do without electricity at the weekend due to snow chaos and strong winds. In the capital Sofia, the power supply was also interrupted in the southern parts of the city due to damaged lines, as reported by Bulgarian media. The north-east of Bulgaria was hardest hit by the unusually heavy snowfall and drifts for November. Four regions declared a state of emergency.
Country roads were reportedly impassable due to the heavy snowfall. Broken branches blocked the roads in many places. Passenger trains from the Black Sea city of Varna to Sofia came to a standstill due to damaged power lines. Important passes in the Balkan Mountains were temporarily closed to traffic. Several international flights were canceled at Varna Airport. At Sofia Airport, flights took off with delays.
Snowstorms and drifts also caused chaos in eastern Romania on Sunday. Around 200 towns and villages lost power, affecting around 250,000 people, according to Romanian media reports. The highway bypass near the Black Sea port city of Constanta was temporarily closed, as was the Danube bridge near Braila. The port of Constanta and all other ports on the Romanian Black Sea ceased operations.
In the face of these harsh weather conditions, emergency services in Bulgaria were alerted to handle the situation effectively. The severe storm caused not only power outages but also disrupted transportation, leading to the cancelation of several flights and the closure of some roads.
Source: www.dpa.com
