site.btaFallen Trees Damage Three Cars in Borovets

Fallen trees caused serious damage to three cars in the Borovets resort complex, Municipal Enterprise Construction, Repair and Landscaping Director Nikolay Stoynov said on Sunday.

No one was injured, and tourists were taken from Sitnyakovo lift station down to the resort and moved to safety. Stoynov said one bungalow was crushed and the roofs of some outbuildings were torn off.

Staff from Municipal Enterprise Construction, Repair and Landscaping, the Municipal Forestry Enterprise and the Emergency Unit of Samokov Municipality were working at the site. Tourists who were in restaurants near the incident were also moved to safety.

Cleanup was to continue the next day because it was already getting dark, Stoynov added. Dozens of trees fell across an area of about 0.2 hectares, he said.

Earlier on Sunday, Samokov Mayor Angel Dzhorgov activated the BG-ALERT system and the resort’s ski slopes were closed.

Samokov Municipality urged residents and visitors not to enter cordoned-off areas and to follow the instructions of the relevant services.

The National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (NIMH) issued a yellow code warning for strong winds in 16 regions of the country earlier on Sunday. Wind gusts are expected to reach up to 90 km/h, the institute said on its website. The warning applies to the regions of Burgas and Varna (on the Black Sea), Vidin, Vratsa and Montana (North-Western Bulgaria), Veliko Tarnovo and Lovech (North-Central Bulgaria), Dobrich, Targovishte and Shumen (North-Eastern Bulgaria), Gabrovo (Central Bulgaria), Sofia City and Sofia Region (the Sofia area), Haskovo (South-Central Bulgaria), Kardzhali (Southern Bulgaria) and Yambol (South-Eastern Bulgaria).