site.btaExpert Conclusions Show Catastrophic Natural Disaster Caused Devastating Floods in Miziya in Summer 2014

Expert Conclusions Show Catastrophic Natural Disaster
Caused Devastating Floods in
Miziya in Summer 2014

Vratsa, Northwestern Bulgaria, May 15 (BTA) - The devastating
flood in the northwestern town of Miziya in the night to August
3, 2014 was caused by a natural disaster that strikes once in
1000 years, reads the conclusion of an expert examination
conducted in a pre-trial proceeding into the causes of the
flood, supervising prosecutor Vladimir Sirakov of the Regional
Prosecution Office in nearby Oryahovo said on Friday.

Sirakov recalled that the proceeding started in the wake of the
disaster which claimed two lives and left homeless hundreds of
Miziya residents.

In a public presentation in the Vratsa District Prosecution
Office Sirakov set out the conclusions from the expert
examination into the causes of the flood, to respond to the high
public interest. The more than 200-page long expert conclusions
were drawn up by leading scholars of the Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences, the Sofia University, and the University of
Architecture, Construction and Geodesy. A computer model of the
flood was also made, using military technology, Sirakov said.

The conclusion of the experts is that the disaster was caused by
the large quantities of rain which fell in the area of the Skut
River in late June and early August - 130-140 mm/sq m, the high
subsoil water level and the impossibility to absorb more water.
Another contributing factor was the catchment area of the Skut,
1,074 sq km, and the low-lying area of the town of Miziya,
which is at an altitude of 20 to 40 m. As a result, the town was
hit by a tidal wave of 60-80 million cu m of water, which the
experts say constituted a rare catastrophic event that could not
have been mitigated by any of the hydro-engineering facilities
along the Skut River.

Sirakov said that on the basis of the experts' conclusions, the
pre-trial proceeding against an unknown perpetrator for causing
the flood will be terminated. PK /ZH/


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