Warning codes for strong storms and hail are in force for almost the whole country today - a warning yellow code has been announced for almost the whole of Bulgaria, and in six districts of Western and Central Bulgaria the warning is one degree higher - orange code.
The strongest torrents and hail are expected in the afternoon, in the western and central regions. To the east it will start raining in the evening. Weather forecasters also warn of hurricane gusts of wind.
After the damage from the last storms and hail, more and more Bulgarians are insuring their property, and farmers are experiencing strong concerns about their harvest.
Hail struck 250 acres of Tsvetan Tsekov's fields two weeks ago. The barley there is ready for harvest. "We found only a swamp and only the straws stick out, without a class on them," complained the farmer.
The farmer is one of the few in the region who regularly insures his land. "I insure at BGN 60 per decare, I give BGN 1,500 every year, so far I have not had any damage, and this year it happened. I insure because this is an open-air factory, as if a factory has no roof and workers stand next to the machines and it rains on top, can they work?
"If I hadn't insured, I might have drunk a cold water and ended up farming," Tsekov explained. He will now receive BGN 4,500 in compensation, according to bTV.
Even after the floods in Vratsa region they do not report an increase in agricultural insurance. In the capital, however, the conclusion of policies is growing. "For the same period last year, we have a 60% growth in those wishing to insure themselves," said Stefan Sofiyanski, a shareholder consultant at Lev Ins.
The big cities remain unprotected by the hail control system, and only one third of the arable agricultural area in our country is covered by landfills that fight the icy rain.
The Hail Agency has fired 11,700 rockets to prevent the disaster. That's twice as much as the arsenal used for the whole of 2013.
"We had prepared a project to expand our protected area by 6 million decares. Unfortunately, this project was not included in the priorities of the evaluation commission and was not approved ", explained Nikolay Nikolov from the Executive Agency" Fight against hail ".
The agency also acknowledges that the available quantities of hail rockets are at a critical minimum.
However, the insurers reassure that they have enough funds to cover the damage after much more severe natural disasters from the hail over Sofia two weeks ago.
Source: Insurance.bg