The Flood in the Bulgarian Village of Biser
February 2012

Barry and Margaret Williamson

Ten people died and considerable damage was done to houses when an upstream dam burst, suddenly flooding the rural village of Biser in southeast Bulgaria on the morning of Monday 6 February 2012.

A number of videos of the flood and its aftermath have appeared on YouTube, of which probably the most graphic is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2edT2m6bdko.

We know Biser and some of its inhabitants well, from three long stays at Camping Sakar Hills which is on the edge of the village. What follows are reports from three different friends in that area, giving eye-witness accounts of events as they unfolded.

See resident Carol's photographs of the aftermath on our website.

Email from Martin and Shirley Jeffes in England, 7 February 2012

The builders and owners of Camping Sakar Hills, Martin and Shirely Jeffes were visiting family in England at the time of the disaster. Their son, Matt, was resident on the campsite which, thankfully, was above the level of the flood.

“We are changing our travel plans, due to the problems in Biser, and, now, will not be coming down to the Peloponnese, but going straight to Bulgaria, when we leave here. Matt is at the campsite, and, luckily, both he and the site escaped unscathed.

The two girls who run the little shop and cafe down the road, having spent a considerable sum of money on refurbishing their shop last year, have now had all their good endeavours washed away. It somehow doesn't really seem fair.

I doubt there will be much we can do to help, but maybe at least we can give a bit of moral support to those we know.”

News from Irene and Gerard Hurst in Bryagovo, Bulgaria, 8 February 2012

These two intrepid English Pastors live in the village of Bryagovo, upriver (to the northwest) of Biser where 10 people died on Monday, 6 February, in flooding when a dam burst.

Bryagovo village and the Hursts had been cut off since the flood began and their emails graphically describe their plight and that of the Gypsy people they serve.

As Pastors, the Hursts ask for prayers, not for themselves but for the many poor Bulgarians and Gypsies for whom this disaster has added an intolerable burden to the already difficult conditions in the depths of a Bulgarian winter on a low income in poor housing. (See, for example, the stories and images associated with our Bulgarian Woolly Project).

First Email from Irene Hurst on 8 February 2012

“It is terrible what has happened in Biser about the lives lost and elsewhere.

We are now code red in the village. No water, No electric, except for now, in the last 36 hours (it has just come on, don't know how long for). The road leading out of the village is totally under water and so is the bridge, and the water is like a torrent. It actually looks like a rough sea. No one can get in to fix anything or make deliveries to the shops and no one can get out. Even if you tried to, the current is that strong it would wash you away.

There are 4 villages including us that are cut off in the same way, Dinovo, Stoyakovo, Rodopi and ourselves, all in code red because of being totally cut off.

Because there was a bigger emergency in Biser when the dam broke and they had to evacuate people, we will have to wait for emergency service to sort us out, if that is possible.”

Second Email from Irene Hurst on 9 February 2012

“Just an update. We have had electric cut off again all night and it has just come back on. Stoyacovo, Dinovo, Rodopi and us are still code red as we are cut off. The army is stopping anyone from going into parts of Harmanli and of course those villages (they could not get anyway). We have had no water now for 2 weeks due to the freezing conditions, then the flooding, no one can get here to fix that yet..... Halleluyah for melted snow boiled on the top of the fire and baby wipes! At the end is a piece from the newspaper.

We are OK, got wood, got bread, got bottled water and cooking stew on the top of the wood fire. Since yesterday we have had 7 inches of snow, but where the drifts are it is over a meter high. That was forecast and the freezing conditions are to continue for a while yet. God is so, so good we are in better conditions than some.

Because of the freezing conditions the water has now stopped coming into the dining room (we had about 5 inches overnight, the other night). David (Irene's son who also lives in the village) got some curb stones and sealant and built a dam across the dining room to stop the water going into the kitchen.

Yesterday was a day of mourning for the people who have died and who are missing. There is nothing we can possibly do except sit this out.

The mayor was telling David that the floods have washed away most of the road leading into the village and no repairs can possibly be done until this snow goes. There are barriers now at the entrance to the village stopping people from even trying to get in or out. No shop deliveries as yet, but the mayor said that the army is going to get some to the shops.”

Email from Carol in Biser Village on 13 February 2012

Carol lives in the village of Biser with her partner, John. They had been cut off without electricity, drinking water, internet or food since much of the village was inundated by water from the dam burst on Monday 6 February.

We had been in touch by text message but eventually Carol emailed to say that power had been restored, along with water and telephone internet connection. She still has no heating, there is little food and there has been a fresh snowfall on top of the destroyed houses.

Four days after the flood, and bringing the total killed to ten, an elderly couple were found washed into the garden next to Carol's house. They were holding hands, a posture frozen in death. The horror has deprived both John and Carol of sleep.

Some of Carol's photographs of the aftermath are on our website: be prepared for the shock of a body wrapped in a carpet. Carol and John have lived in Biser for several years and the only light at the end of their long, cold tunnel is that their property in Svilengrad (long advertised on our website) has finally been sold.

Second email from Martin and Shirley Jeffes, Kolarovo near Biser, 4 March 2012

“Well, we're back in Bulgaria. We arrived at mid-day last Tuesday; it was snowing on and off, and a cold winter wind was blowing hard from the north-east. The house was so cold that the first thing we did was to connect an electric supply to the caravan, so that, if all else failed, and we couldn't get the house up to operating speed quickly, we could always retreat to the caravan for the night. As it turned out, there was very little damage, just one tap and one pipe broken by the cold weather, neither of which prevented me from firing up the large wood-burner and warming things up. By nightfall we had the radiators in our bedroom, and the telly, working, so no problems.

On Thursday we went to Biser to (a) check on the camp-site, and (b) to survey the flood damage. It was heartwarming to be greeted with a smile from people who have clearly had the worst experience  of their lives, but still seem able to observe the pleasantries and courtesies of life. To view their pathetic belongings scattered around, here and there the flotsam and jetsam of their lives, while, as you can imagine, little is actually being done to clear it all up by anyone other than themselves, was a somewhat, depressing experience. Happily, although we suffered some damage inflicted by the adverse weather, it was only on a containable scale; some new plaster to the outside wall of the toilet block, and a couple of burst pipes.

Away from the problems of Biser nothing much seems to have changed. Harmanli also suffered serious flooding in the winter: Neno, and his Tennis Court restaurant, lost everything when the river that runs past his establishment burst its banks, and nearly gave him the dubious title of Harmanli's first floating restaurant. Last year he had sold his apartment in the town, and, with his wife, moved into the back rooms of the restaurant, as an economy measure. Now he has nothing. He had to borrow a pair of shoes from a mutual friend, as all his had washed away. It don't get much worse.”