The powerful hailstorm that hit southern Bulgaria yesterday afternoon caused enormous damage in the regions of Stara Zagora, Plovdiv and Sliven.
In places, the ice chunks were the size of walnuts.
In the area of the village of Zetivo, which is among the most affected, about 5,000 decares of agricultural land with corn and fruit plantations were destroyed.
Damage assessments are ongoing, with areas affected expected to increase as a second hailstorm fell last night.
Neighboring villages were also seriously affected. Only part of the farmers have insurance.
“The situation is deplorable”the mayor of the village of Zetivo, Ivan Ganev, told BNT.
Expert commissions have been formed with representatives of the regional directorates “Agriculture” to immediately examine the damage to the plantations from the fallen hailstones, announced the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to preliminary data, the most affected agricultural areas are in the regions of Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Sliven.
The experts remind the farmers that within 7 days they must submit an application for conducting a survey.
Based on it, finding protocols are issued for 100% failed areas.
Once the commissions describe the damage, the farmers will be able to receive compensation under the state aid to compensate for the damage caused by adverse climatic events.
Rainfall is expected again today, mainly in the eastern part of the country, according to the weather forecast of the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology.
Maximum temperatures in most of the country will rise to between 16° and 21°. A light, northerly wind will blow.
The weather along the Black Sea coast will be sunny, but cooler than yesterday, with maximum temperatures of 16° to 19°. A light to moderate wind will blow from the south-southeast. The excitement of the sea will be 1 – 2 points.
It will also be sunny in the mountains until noon, but showers and thunderstorms are expected in the afternoon, and snow will also fall on the highest peaks.
During the weekend, sunny weather will prevail. Rainfall is expected on Saturday afternoon in places in the western and central parts of the country, and on Sunday – during the first half of the day in the eastern half of the country.
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