05/23/2012 11:05 GMT

SOFIA, May 23, 2012 (AFP) - Europe's disaster commissioner told Bulgaria on Wednesday that it needs to boost its preparations to deal with emergencies after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake triggered panic among sleeping residents.

"Luckily, there were no casualties but people were very scared, which tells us that we have got work to do," Crisis Response Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, who is Bulgarian, told state BNR radio in an interview.

GENEVA, 21 February 2012 - The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNISDR, today said the European Flood Alert System could soon be put to its greatest test since widespread flooding ten years ago led to its creation by the European Commission.

The UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, said she was particularly concerned about the consequences for those countries bordering the Danube where the ice is now starting to break up in the first signs of a spring thaw.

Due to the heavy snow that has covered Bulgaria in the beginning of February 2012, several dams were overflowing. On Monday, 6 February, the Ivanovo dam wall broke due to severe weather conditions and the water released inundated the villages of Biser and Leshnikovo in south eastern Bulgaria. Several other dams in this areas are also in risk of being damaged due to masses of water and snow.

This bulletin is being issued for information only, and reflects the current situation and details available at this time. The Bulgarian Red Cross, with the support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), has determined that external assistance is not required, and is therefore not seeking funding or other assistance from donors at this time.

Summary

By Irina Ivanova

SOFIA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Heavy snowfall and strong winds across eastern Europe cut off hundreds of villages on Tuesday and rescue teams struggled to evacuate people in southern Bulgaria where rain and melting snow caused a dam wall to break, flooding an entire village.

A river dike also broke under intense water pressure near Kapitan Andreevo at the border with Turkey, officials said.

Read the full report on Alertnet.

Participatory Assessment 2010 Report

Foreword

This report of the UNHCR Regional Representation for Central Europe’s annual Participatory Assessment gives a summary of the situation for asylum-seekers, refugees and people with subsidiary protection in the region, as they reported it to UNHCR and other members of the research teams in 2010.

In response to the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria decided to provide relief money of 200,000 leva (about 12 million yen) to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

From Bulgaria, letters of sympathy and condolences were sent from H.E. Dr. Georgi Parvanov, President, H.E. Mr. Boyko Borissov, Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Nickolay Mladenov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and many others.

Dtg: 11 November 2009, 10.00 UTC

From: Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre

To: Points of Contact for International Disaster Response in NATO and Partner Countries

Precedence: Priority

Originator: Duty Officer

Tel: +32-2-707.2670

Approved by: Head EADRCC

Tel: +32-2-707.2673

Reference: EAPC(C)D(98)10(Revised)

This report consists of : -2- pages

1. In accordance with the procedures at reference, EADRCC has received today at 08:21 11 November 2009 UTC,

Brussels, 2 August 2007. With the forest fire season barely started, provisional figures show that 3376 square kilometres of land has already been burned in 2007, compared to a total of 3585 square kilometres in 2006, with July 2007 one of the worst-ever months on record. These figures have been released by the European Forest Fire Information System, managed by the European Commission, which produces early warnings of fire risk and damage assessment.

Following warnings of high fire risk at the end of June in countries such as Greece and Cyprus, the second half