Deadly Snowstorms: States of Emergency Declared in Bulgaria

States of Emergency Declared in Nine Bulgarian Municipalities after Deadly Snowstorms

Hundreds of towns in southern Bulgaria remain without electricity following massive snowstorms, said a report.

States of emergency were declared in the municipalities of Smolyan, Kardzhali, Haskovo, Laki, Pazardzhik, Rakitovo, Plovdiv, Sarnitsa and Velingrad, the local media reported.

Up to 2 meters of snow blocked roads, downed power lines and forced hundreds schools to close, leaving tens of communities remain cut off from the rest of the country, said the report.

At least five people were reported dead as a result of the mammoth snowfalls, including a “65-year-old man was found frozen to death,” and three snowboarders killed by an avalanche in Pirin mountain on Sunday, “as the country continued to grapple with huge snowfalls that have massively disrupted power supplies and caused travel chaos in parts of the country.”

“The situation also remained serious in the Kurdzhali region, mainly in Ardino and Kirkovo, with the latter having seen nearly four meters of snowfall.”

A powerful storm with hurricane-force winds brought the snow to the Balkan Peninsula, and surrounding regions, producing hurricane-force winds over the Adriatic Sea, which lasted more than 48 hours.

The storm severity affected southern Italy, Croatia and Serbia, with blizzards, as well as flooding, and landslides.

Italian village breaks snow records with a dump of more than 256.5cm in 18 hours

A small village in southern Italy became the  snowiest places in the world after it received more than 2.56 meters (101 inches) of snow in less than 24 hours.

An intense storm left Capracotta buried under a deep blanket of snow, forcing the residents to climb out of their first-floor windows, or dig tunnels from their front doors.

The village may have set a new world record for most snow in 24 hours, shattering the previous high of 193cm (75.8 inches) held by Silver Lake, Colorado, USA.

“In Colorado, they had two meters of snow in 24 hours, but here it took just 16 hours for that amount to fall,” said the mayor of the village [population: ~1,400.]

The neighboring village of Pescopennataro received more than 240cm of the powdery precipitation.

High winds created blizzard conditions with snow drifts up to four meters deep in several places.
Other towns and villages in the southern Italian region of Molise were also affected, including Campobasso, Pescocostanzo, Pescopennataro and Vastogirardi.