site.btaHeavy Rains in Northwestern Montana Region Flood Yards, Houses, Partial State of Disaster Declared in Lehchevo Village

Heavy rains overnight in the northwestern region of Montana flooded yards, basements and ground floors of houses, but rivers did not overflow and no people were injured, Regional Governor Kalin Haitov told BTA.

He said that electricity and water supply everywhere in the region is normal, the roads are passable, the situation is returning back to normal and the affected households are about to be drained. According to local authorities, about 50 or 60 houses and yards have been flooded, but the exact number is yet to be determined, and it is possible that they are fewer, Haitov said.

A partial state of disaster has been declared in the village of Lehchevo, Boychinovtsi municipality. There and in the neighbouring village of Kobilyak, 72 litres per square metre of rain fell in about an hour late last night, and it continued to rain overnight, but with less intensity. A wave of muddy water came from the field and flooded the yards, basements and ground floors of some houses in the two villages. The level of the Ogosta River, which flows near Lehchevo and Kobilyak, has risen significantly, but the river has notoverflown, the governor said.

Currently, six teams of the Regional Directorate of Fire Safety and Population Protection from Montana, Lom and Valchedrum are draining the yards, basements and ground floors of houses in the villages of Lehchevo and Kobilyak, in the town of Valchedrum and the village of Mokresh, Commissioner Ventsislav Raykov told BTA. During the night a team of divers from the fire department helped to evacuate two women from their home in the village of. Lehchevo. No other people were evacuated, Raykov said. He added that most flooded yards, ground floors are in the village of Lehchevo, and there are several houses in the villages of Kobilyak, Mokresh and the town of Valchedrum.