Snow Emergency Remains in Southern Bulgarian Resort Town

An emergency situation remains in place in the southern Bulgarian resort town of Chepelare, said Mayor Todor Bozukov, refuting the announcement made several hours ago that the crisis situation was over.

Power supply has not yet been restored to one residential district in Chepelare and to the nearby villages of Progled, Ostritsa, Lilekovo, Zornitsa, Bogutevo and Zabyrdo.

Monday has been declared a no-school day due to the difficult driving conditions.

Snow depth in the town is above 50 cm and reaches 150 cm in the higher regions where repair works are taking place.

All residential areas in the municipality are now accessible, according to Bozukov, but work is progressing slowly because the conditions are very tough.

The heavy snow keeps causing trees or branches to fall and tear down power and phone lines.

Power and water and supply to the Roman Municipality in North-Western Bulgaria has been cut off for a third day in a row, where the emergency situation also remains in place.

Kindergartens and schools in the area will stay closed on the first day after the winter holiday.

52 residential areas in the municipalities of Gabrovo and Veliko Tarnovo are without power supply, according to power distributor EON.

According to reports of power distributor CEZ, another 48 residential areas which are connected to its grid have been left without electricity.

Power distributor EVN has said that 39 small residential areas in the municipalities of Lucky, Chepelare, Stoykite and Devin still have no electricity.

In the Plovdiv district, the situation is at its worst in the Rhodopi municipality, where some villages are still inaccessible.

Emergency teams of the power utilities are working to repair the damages to the power grid.

Republican roads are passable under winter conditions.

Road surfaces are mostly wet and snowy in some places.

Ice-covered sections are being treated with sand.

The Zlatishki, Tvardishki, Varbishki, Troyanski and Vratnik passes have been closed.

Chains are required for all vehicles crossing the Prevala, Pamporovo, Rozhen and Petrohan passes, while trucks cannot have trailers or semi-trailers.

The Interior Ministry has advised citizens to only make urgent travels due to the difficult driving conditions.

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