After the storm that caused flooding in Northwestern Bulgaria, it turns out that the areas affected by the disaster did not receive a warning from the Bg-Alert system. Due to the torrential rains, dozens of houses were flooded, and people had to be evacuated.
The government's response is that more municipal administration employees need to be trained to be able to send messages through the Bg-Alert system. Currently, 98 municipalities have sent requests for training.
The Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of the National Association of Municipalities and Mayor of Dimitrovgrad Municipality Ivo Dimov stated that in his opinion the connection between the institutions and the protocol of the warning system has been broken.
“One year after the system was put into operation, 1/3 of the Bulgarian municipalities, 1/4 of the regional governments that have the right to operate the system have submitted applications for training of their employees“, he specified.
According to Ivo Dimov, it is time for the National Association of Municipalities and all competent authorities to clarify the methodology and way of working of the system.
“The operator of the system is the General Directorate “Fire Safety and Protection of the Population“ according to the Regulation published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs“, explained the mayor.