A dam broke today in the area before the treatment plant in the “Andreina“ hamlet in Batanovtsi, after the confluence of the Konska River into the Struma River. This was reported to BTA by the mayor of the settlement, Radoslav Petrov.
The signal for the break was given at 16:30. A team of the Emergency Rescue Team of the Pernik Municipality was immediately sent to the site. An excavator has been working on the field for three hours, with which the dam was restored.
According to the mayor of Batanovtsi, there are no flooded houses and no people in distress. However, the situation remains critical and is being monitored constantly.
As a preventive measure, the release of water from the “Studena“ dam has been temporarily stopped to avoid additional risk of flooding. After the river level drops, the controlled release will be resumed, the mayor also announced.
In the village of Yardzhilovtsi, gardens and a bridge are flooded, but the water has not reached people's homes.
The rock mass that closed the Smolyan-Devin road is over 150 cubic meters, the director of the Regional Road Administration – Smolyan Marin Kushev told BTA. He was at the site of the landslide, which blocked both lanes of the republican road III-866 last night.
“A large mass has fallen and small excavators cannot cope with clearing the road. A large machine is leaving in the direction of Krichim - Devin. It will take over 3 hours to move the machine,“ said Kushev.
He added that with the arrival of the equipment, one lane will begin to be cleared. Subsequently, a second machine with a hammer will arrive to break up the large rock fragment, which will be removed by trucks.
An orange code for four regions in the country and a yellow code for 19 regions were announced by the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (NIMH) for January 11.
An orange code for snow, ice and strong winds is in force for the regions of: Dobrich, Razgrad, Ruse and Silistra.
A yellow code for strong winds has been announced for the regions of: Blagoevgrad, Vidin, Montana, Plovdiv and Sliven. A yellow warning for strong winds and snow and ice is in effect for: Varna, Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Lovech, Pazardzhik, Pleven, Targovishte and Shumen. A yellow code for rainfall is in effect for the Burgas and Haskovo districts, for snowfall for Sofia district and Smolyan, and for Kardzhali - for snow and rain.
No warnings for dangerous weather are issued for the districts of Kyustendil, Pernik, Sofia city, Stara Zagora, Yambol.