On 19 June, 2014, unprecedented disaster befell the Asparuhovo Residential Complex in Varna. Water calamity took away 13 human lives and caused damages for tens of millions of levs. The flood hit mainly in three directions: on infrastructure, on houses and on cars. Recall that then water billowing literally swept and was tossing like matchsticks people, houses, trees, cars, asphalt. Whole streets were completely destroyed, and the water rushed into many homes and ruined all the furniture of dozens of households. What happened to the sufferers?
Following the call of the Bulgarian Red Cross and of NGOs, hundreds of volunteers from all over the country came to Asparuhovo who put free labour to overcome the damage from the disaster. The state provided financial support amounting to 325 levs for all those sufferers who were identified by administrative teams. What was the fate of the car owners? On Moryashka Street, all cars were taken away. Most of them did not have insurance. Other owners complained that their insurance does not include damage during a natural disaster. The car park in Druzhba Residential Complex collected a part of the most broken by the water calamity cars. Most of these cars were shattered beyond recognition. Vehicles were literally crushed by the calamity in the Moryashka Street region. In order to not be subject to violations, they were guarded by the police. Some of the cars were so crushed so that their owners could hardly recognise them. One of the cars could not even be identified by brand and model. The positive thing was that the Municipality paid the costs for striking off the destroyed cars from the Automotive Transport Control (KAT). People in the Roma neighbourhood suffered the most. The granted 325 levs were some first aid, but homes and belongings were totally destroyed. What the people needed most were money for clothes, food and recovery of personal documents, but nobody had such after the disaster. Yet the first week after the flood, 228 buildings were evacuated, 1275 persons were officially registered on these addresses. In Asparuhovo, nine dangerous areas were identified - landslide, rockfall and those with danger of flooding.
The total number of destroyed buildings was 108. Demolished residential buildings were 48, secondary buildings were 27, and commercial sites were 33. Yet in July, 90% of the damages in Asparuhovo after the flooding of 19 June were restored. Only for a month the main boulevards where city transport buses move were restored. Local landslips in private properties were strengthened for a month. A total of 40 streets that were destroyed by the flood, were repaired before the autumn. Most of the roads in the area needed re-asphalting over their entire length, to other roads infrastructure was partially restored, the majority of curbs and sidewalks were renewed.
12 retaining walls were built up. Repair activities covered the following streets: Balkapan, Belgorod, B.Kiryakov, Vilite, Gorna Studena, Grivitsa, Dedeagach, Detelin Voyvoda, Dzhanavara, Dryanovski manastir, Zletovo, Kostur, Layosh Koshut, Maragidik, Markovi kuli, Morava, Moryashka, Naycho Tsanov, Narodni buditeli, Narva, Nishava, Perekop, Rostov, St.St. Kiril and Metodi, Tundzha, Chongora, and Yantra. The centre of Asparuhovo was also recovered from the damage after the fatal 19 June, where only the 4-metre Volunteer Symbol in the garden next to the Prosveta 1927 Community Centre reminds the people of the neighbourhood for the selfless assistance that thousands of volunteers rendered to sufferers. Recently it turned out that nine months after the disaster in Asparuhovo, the 8.5 million euro granted for Varna, has not yet been received from the EU Solidarity Fund. "Varna will receive the money not later than the end of March," said the Minister of Regional Development Lilyana Pavlova during her visit to the city recently. Money from Europe because of the disasters is still not received by the cities of Gabrovo, Veliko Tarnovo, Burgas, Montana, Kyustendil, Plovdiv, Haskovo, Yambol and Sofia.
