Causes of Flooding on the Black Sea Coast: The Role of Humans

After the devastating floods on the Black Sea coast, the question of the causes of the tragedy is more than relevant. Are natural forces alone, expressed in extreme rainfall, behind the victims and destruction? A team from the University Center for Geospatial Research has set out to investigate the situation, examining factors that could exacerbate the consequences.

Although weather conditions have played a role, scientists emphasize the importance of the human factor. According to them, construction has drastically changed the way the waters drain. The atmosphere at the scene of the events seemed to remind of the unpredictable force of nature.

"Just bad luck. The cloud poured here and no one could have predicted its exact location," the scientists comment. The catchment area above a resort is small, about 28 square kilometers, but it is long. The water, quite predictably, collected in the ravine above the village.

Associate Professor Dr. Stelian Dimitrov commented categorically: "The buildings are here, inside, in the ravine. This is an amphitheater, which is made in the most inappropriate place, because a flood occurs when you have some kind of barrier that stops the water for a while and then it bursts". He emphasizes that the construction at the bottom of the ravine is new, part of the still unfinished process of overbuilding the Black Sea coast.

The specialist gives a historical retrospective: "Somewhere in the mid-80s, in fact "Elenite" was on the slope. These houses were on top of the slope, there was no construction below, which means that someone thought it was possible for a similar disaster to happen". This information underlines that the risks of construction in flood-prone areas were not taken into account in planning.

The area of another affected village is known to scientists from previous floods. After the last disaster, they investigated the terrain in detail, reaching categorical conclusions.

"These are two ravines, which are in two separate catchment areas. These are urbanized territories. The two floods are of an absolutely different nature, they have proceeded in an absolutely different way. There were three or four victims here, three victims were in one car. This is the car with the three victims. It was located about 150-200 meters into the sea. I.e. the tidal wave passed and took it here. The tidal wave here was almost 8 meters". These shocking facts reveal the horrifying dimensions of the disaster.

Scientists have simulated the tidal wave to determine the causes and damages.

"The main reason here was this bridge. Which even now, only it is made more strongly, the bridge itself has survived, but it was blocked quite quickly and the water has already passed from the upper side and spilled, which is a completely natural process".

The question of the dangers associated with infrastructure is directly raised. In response to a question from BNT whether the bridge can still cause similar consequences, the scientists answer categorically: "Of course, this will always be a reason for spilling in this zone".

Despite the decisions to investigate all such catchment areas, nothing like that has happened. According to scientists, measures can be taken to reduce the damage. One of the examples that prevented a larger disaster comes from the analysis of the flood in Karavelovo.

"What you see here is the village stadium after the flood, it is located immediately before Karavelovo. 4893 cubic meters of uprooted trees have been deposited at this village stadium. What was its role? Well, it stopped all these trees from entering the inhabited place. And in this way there is not a single victim there. Yes, there are flooded houses, there is a lot of material that has been brought in, but these trees are practically bombs. At high speed they will destroy the houses. And they will take human life". This story demonstrates the effectiveness of preventive measures.

The flood two years ago in Tsarevo could also have been worse if it were not for a reservoir emptied for repair, which reduced the tidal wave. The question that scientists are asking now is how long it will take to learn from the disasters that will certainly become more frequent.