The outgoing week inadvertently brings back in the minds of everyone the dramatic and sorrowful poem "Hailstorm" of the great Bulgarian poet Yavorov. Disastrous wind and hailstorm that hit several Bulgarian cities, especially the capital, raise serious questions about the preparedness of the state to assist its citizens in such natural disasters.
What happened on Tuesday, July 8, in Sofia? A hail cloud longer than 10 kilometers fell in just 15 minutes over the Bulgarian capital, pouring a hundred cubic meters of ice. Pieces the size of a small walnut to a small apple flew on all sides at a speed of 80-100 km/h, smashing windows, windows, car windows and indenting the roofs of cars. Felled trees and broken branches quickly jammed the streets and sewer manholes. The logical thing followed - many streets have become waterways. The disaster took a victim again – an elderly man was killed by fallen tree in the park.

The natural disaster surely could not have been prevented. But could we at least be aware and reduce the negatives? Meteorologists had warned of storms and hailstorms this week, but they were not expecting such intensity, either. Local authorities also did not pay proper attention. The huge hail cloud flew from Serbia. The Bulgarian Agency for hail suppression in rural areas detected it 8 minutes before it dumped its load over Sofia. The agency used this information for direct action in arable land and for safety reasons could not operate over cities. And accordingly had no obligation to inform the citizens. However, it informed the Air Force and the State Agency for Civil Protection. The latter, however, needed at least 15 minutes to turn on the sirens of its warning system. In a word, no one in the chain clearly was ready to alert the citizenry in the event of such natural disasters.

After the disastrous floods in the Varna district Asparuhovo that took a dozen victims, the state for the second time abdicated its obligations within just a month, a Bulgarian daily wrote. Reasonably comes the question how those nearly 20 million euro for the construction of the police system for early warning was used, since it's never ever been in operation. And another two non-trivial touches of the picture - in the disaster in Sofia among the first buildings flooded were the premises of the Ambulance Service and the Red Cross...

We can only hope the inspection ordered by Prime Minister Oresharski on the reaction of public authorities in this situation gets to the root of the evil and appropriate measures are taken.