One year since the devastating flood in Tsarevo - the damage from the disaster has been restored. Four people lost their lives then, dozens of cars and caravans were swept into the sea. Several bridges collapsed, and many properties were flooded, BNT recalls.
On September 5 last year, the president of the Tsarevo District Court, Maria Moskova, and her daughter lost their lives in the water disaster – the veterinarian Dr. Daniela Yordanova and two other men. The waters carried them to this bridge, which collapsed because of the tidal wave. It has already been rebuilt, is operational and will soon be fully completed. Much of the infrastructure has been restored. Work continues on both dams. After the disaster, all the ravines and rivers have been cleaned. Surveys are made whenever heavy rain is forecast. However, the municipality is still waiting for funding from the state. To date, only 40 of the total 80 million BGN needed to deal with the disaster have been received. 1 million, which the municipality urgently spent from its budget in the first days after the flood, has not been recovered either.
And people's fears and memories of the devastating flood remain. Exactly one year ago, more than 300 liters of rain per square meter fell in the area of Tsarevo. Dams, rivers and ravines overflowed, and the water lost lives, destroyed bridges, flooded properties. A year later, Kalina and Ivan are again resting near Arapya, where the tidal wave drove dozens of cars and caravans into the sea.
„It was scary, we evacuated grandmothers in the caravans, the electricity was turned on, it was dangerous for them, they hadn't thought to turn off the electricity,” says Kalina Goranova.
Today, caravans and buildings around the ravine of Arapia, which prevented the water from being counted, are gone.
„They cleaned the beach, that helped a lot. There is a change for good and positive.....“, says Ivan Katsarski.
Every time it rains, however, people worry.
„There was almost the same flood three days ago, infrastructure, sewage and water, especially sewage, were not built – there is no storm sewer, it can be seen on the streets”, Kalina explains.
„We are in trouble, that day when it rained, the memories come back again, you follow the water to where it rises…“, added Plamen Savov.
According to the authorities, the measures taken after the flood last year did not lead to damage in the recent heavy rains.
„Cleaned rivers and ravines led the water to the sea, there was no problem. The dams, because they are in the process of being designed, the torn retaining walls have been stabilized, they are kept at zero level”, explained the mayor of Tsarevo Municipality, Martin Kirov.
The bridge that caused the casualties has now been rebuilt, according to authorities – by all modern standards, so that it can withstand a possible tidal wave.
„This thing had to be done so that it could be fixed, but now everything is normal, everything is under control and it was done as it should be,” commented Kiril Dimitrov.
A year later, no one has been punished for the disaster.
„According to the report of the interdepartmental commission, the main cause of the disaster is the huge amount of rain, the uncleaned rivers in the state territory and the small gathering, here in the Black Sea,” explained the mayor of Tsarevo.
In memory of the dead, a funeral prayer was held in the church in Tsarevo. And the residents and guests of Tsarevo were given a consecrated fish sacrifice for health.