site.btaUPDATED Snowfall Aftermath: Power Outages, Road Closures across Country

Snowfall caused power outages and road closures across the country on Thursday. 

Over 150 teams work continuously to repair the power grid failures in Western Bulgaria, but fallen trees and uncleared roads make the task difficult, Electricity Distribution Networks West EAD said. The most difficult conditions are in the mountainous areas around Troyan, Samokov, Teteven, Lovech, Botevgrad and Apriltsi, where the snowdrifts are high and some of the roads are impassable. A coordination centre has also been set up to redirect additional teams to the worst-hit areas.

Nearly 90 villages in Gabrovo Municipality are without electricity as a result of heavy snowfall and heavy wet snow, Gabrovo Municipality said on its Facebook page. There are also power outages in two of Gabrovo's boroughs - Belentsi and Nedevtsi.

Around 20 villages in Veliko Tarnovo Region have experienced or continue to experience power outages, the regional administration reported Thursday.

Dozens of settlements in Lovech Region were left without power supply, the electricity distribution company reported.

Several Sofia boroughs were also left without electricity, an infomap on Electricity Distribution Networks West EAD's website shows. The affected areas are: Vladaya, Dragalevtsi, Bistritsa, Zheleznitsa, Plana, as well as villa zones near Simeonovo, Kinocentara, Yarema, Dolni Pasarel and Park Vitosha.

A major breakdown in the water supply pipeline of Svishtov (on the Danube) has cut off the water supply to the town. According to the town's Mayor Gencho Genchev, who commented the situation for BTA, the water pipeline is old and causes disruptions in the water supply. The breakdown has been located and it is expected to be fixed by the end of the day, Veliko Tarnovo Regional Governor Ivaylo Zdravkov said.

After a second consecutive day of Apriltsi Municipality having no power, Mayor Tihomir Kukenski reported that tourists are leaving the local hotels. The snow cover is about 60 cm. The main streets have been cleared.

A similar situation is ongoing in Troyan Municipality, as tourists are cancelling their bookings. Plamen Kostovski who manages a hotel in the village of Shipkovo told BTA that while his hotel has invested thousands of leva in a generator, it is a backup option that could only be used for a few hours. With a snow cover of 40 cm in the region, he said: "I think the problems are due to the uncleared routes. We see nobody coming in the summer to clear branches."

Troyan Mayor Donka Mihaylova reported that all villages in the municipality are experiencing a power outage. Many of them have no mobile coverage. If the outages persist on Thursday night, some of the villages may be left with no running water, as pumps that supply it run on electricity.

Teteven Mayor Madlena Boyadjieva told BTA that while the conditions in Teteven Municipality are difficult, there is no need to declare a state of emergency for the time being. She reported that all roads in the region are passable. Most of the villages in the municipality have no electricity, and in some of them mobile communications are disrupted. Some of the larger hotels in the region have backup power. No reports of tourists leaving have been received. The town hospital also has backup power.

The snowfall also affected Borovets Resort where the ski area will remain closed on Thursday.