Floods in Bulgaria: Rescue Operations with Help from the Air Force (VIDEO + PHOTOS)

@Ministry of Defense

Floods all over the Sub-Balkan region of Bulgaria. Whole villages are separated from the world, people are being evacuated. Read more about the developments in the past 24 hours here.

“Cougar” helicopters of the Bulgarian Air Force were sent to Karlovo region for rescue operations. The situation is still alarming.

A second military helicopter is involved in the rescue operations in Karlovo region.

A military helicopter "Cougar" with a crew from the 24th Krumovo airbase will deliver today, September 2, food products, water and other essentials to those affected by the flood and the rescue teams operating in the villages affected by the torrential rains in the region. The machine took off at 6:24 p.m. Due to the disruption of roads in the Sub-Balkan due to torrential rains, delivery will be made by helicopter in isolated areas. In this way, the rescue teams of employees of the Main Directorate "Fire Safety and Protection of the Population, military personnel from the Ground Forces and representatives of other institutions will continue to work in the field at night and tomorrow.

Earlier today, another Cougar military helicopter airlifted people injured by the disaster in the region.

The Karlovo village of Karavelovo is also cut off from the world, the situation remains dire

The situation remains difficult in other settlements in the Karlovy Vary region. The situation is most complicated in several villages through which the Stryama River passes. The Troyan - Karnare passage is closed due to a landslide. Access to the village of Rozino is limited. There is no electricity in many places.

An unforgettable water disaster befell the people in the village of Karavelovo, and the situation here remains complicated. The village is divided in three by the water and is accessible only from the main road to the village of Banya but even there the bridge is closed. Today, the bridges that connect Karavelovo with neighboring settlements were literally swallowed up by the water element. It also flooded the Sub-Balkan road, and a cannery and a house in the village of Stoletovo were literally taken over by the Stryama river.

The bridge in the village of Slatina has been compromised, there are flooded shops and houses, and the entire village of Rozino is in water, which can only be entered by high-terrain vehicles. There are downed power poles and power supply is limited. The critical situation united the efforts of state, military, local and municipal structures. There are already volunteers who are ready to help.

A huge wave woke people in Karavelovo early in the morning.

"There was water up to the knee, and since then the water has been rising steadily, non-stop and non-stop, until now. It reached a meter and a half, now until 20 minutes ago it was a meter and a half," said one of the victims.

In some places, there was a two-meter wave.

"It's a miracle that so far we don't have any serious news about dead and injured people, it's really a miracle, such a flood that pours down from the sky doesn't happen every time," said the chief. Commissioner Nikolay Nikolov - director of the DG "Fire Safety and Protection of the Population".

Rescue operations are continuing in order to evacuate as many people as possible from the flooded areas.

"At the moment, two women and one child have been rescued, right now six people are pulling themselves out with ropes and saving themselves, a rescue operation is underway", explained Krasimir Dimitrov - Sofia rescue service.

"We plan to use the helicopters to deliver food and water to those who are on the other side of the river. Specialists are traveling to our location - sappers who will inspect the area where a pontoon bridge can be placed so that we can make the connection with the other side of the river "said Admiral Emil Eftimov - Chief of Defense.

Teams of volunteers have been deployed along the Stryama River until its merger with the Maritsa River from noon to inform about the appearance of a new high wave.

"It's the first time I've seen so much water, and people rightly react because maybe it's the second or third time they've been flooded by this very river during heavy rains. I really think the state should take measures to clean the river bed," said Miroslav Kolev - mayor of the village of Stoletovo.

An investigation into the causes of the flood by the National Investigation Service also began.

"We have initial data on uncontrolled cutting down of wood, which could be in a causal relationship," said Yuliana Petkova - deputy director of the National Investigation Service.

A BNT team is stranded in the village of Bogdan: It's a watery hell, dozens of people are waiting to be rescued

In the isolated and submerged village of Bogdan, people from more than 50 houses are suffering. Among them are colleagues from the Bulgarian National Television - Stanislava Hristozova and cameraman Tsvetan Tsvetkov.

The BNT team was stranded in the village even before noon and throughout the day it sent exclusive footage from the village and the evacuation of the people.

“For the first time, we are witnessing such a disaster in the Sub-Balkans. At first we thought that this was another flood in the municipality of Karlovo. Water hell in the Sub-Balkans - if we say, we will not exaggerate," says Stanislava Hristozova.

"You couldn't see the streets. People were - who could - looking for help wherever they could, the cries of animals could be heard. We saw teams of the fire department, the police, the municipal administration, who were helping. At the beginning of the village, the water reached a little more than two meters. There turned out to be the most serious situation and more than 10-15 people were in distress. We went to the central part of the village where we witnessed something never seen before - while they were trying to save an 80-year-old woman in one of the houses - we witnessed real horror - a huge wave rushed over us. We all ran away," says Stanislava.

People escaped the disaster but remained stranded in one section of the village.

"We expect to be evacuated and rescued as well as the dozens of people who are in these settlements," she says.

If the water recedes, there is a possibility of evacuation through one of the dirt roads of the village of Karavelovo, where there is a bridge facility to be cleared.

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/BNT, Ministry of Defense

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