PHOENIX OPERATION of the Bulgarian Armed Forces for rendering support to the state and local authorities for reconstruction of damaged infrastructure

The torrential rains in July and August 2005 have caused flooding of towns, villages and agricultural areas consequently resulting in the establishment of emergency situation on the territory of a number of municipalities in the country.

A great number of bridges, road and railway sections and houses have been ruined. Thousands of citizens have been evacuated.

Yet in the first hours of the disaster the General Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces undertook decisive steps for rendering assistance to the population in the disaster-struck regions. In the period 5 th August till the start of the PHOENIX operation more than 1000 servicemen with 157 pieces of equipment from 17 military units were involved in disaster relief activities.

The Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces held a working meeting with the Chairman of the National Community Association and discussed with him the most pressing needs of the population in the disaster-struck regions and what would be the assistance that the Bulgarian Armed Forces could provide.

Two exercises have been canceled: the national CPX LIVEX “ESEN 2005” and the bilateral Bulgarian-Romanian Exercise “Black Sea Guardian 2005” for the purpose of focusing manpower and resources in the disaster relief activities for the population and reconstruction of damaged infrastructure.

On the 13 th and 14 th August 2005 26 engineer and reconnaissance teams from the Land Forces and 8 teams from the Military Epidemiology Center conducted reconnaissance of the flooded areas to determine the scale of the damages. The basic efforts were concentrated on Sofia field, the rivers Tundzha, Maritza, Iskar, Vit and Lesnovska and in the regions of the towns Smolyan, Velingrad and Shoumen. 2000 km of roads and 11 130 km 2 of river beds and their adjacent dams have been reconnoitered. The status of 114 engineer installations has been described.

It was found out that 9700 m of dams, 4150 m of roadways and 51 bridges have been destroyed. 7290 m of roads have been blocked by landslides.

Based on these reports a plan for the conduct of PHOENIX Operation has been developed. The purpose of the operation is to render support to the state and local authorities for the disaster relief activities in the flooded regions and to recover the infrastructure engaging the personnel and resources of the Bulgarian Armed Forces.

The main efforts are concentrating on :

1. Reconstruction of dams along riversides.

2. Clearance of river beds, dikes, cascades, and irrigation canals

3. Roads reconstruction;

4. Building of temporary bridges

5. Clearance of landslides;

6. Building of temporary wooden houses

7. Rendering of support in the epidemic prevention activities

The Bulgarian Armed Forces participate with: 17 tactical engineer modules adequately manned and equipped with wide spectrum of reconstruction equipment;

2 modules for building of prefabricated houses;

2 bridge-building modules;

2 emergency recovery modules;

8 stand-by sanitary teams;

8 teams for disinfection and pest extermination;

1 helicopter for reconnaissance and surveillance.

In total that would mean about 900 personnel and 150 pieces of equipment.

The main tasks performed by the Bulgarian Armed Forces are the following:

1. Fortifying of dams – 7000 m;

2. River beds clearance – 6000 m;

3. Roadways clearance – 7000 m

The operation is being executed in four stages within the period 22 August – 31 October 2005.

First Stage: Inactivation – Formation of the modules and teams and their deployment to the respective locations.

Second Stage: Recovery – recovery of dams, clearance of river beds, landslides and roads.

Third Stage: Construction – construction of temporary bridges, road sectors and wooden houses.

Fourth Stage: Deactivation – redeployment of the task teams to their permanent locations and disbanding of the teams.

During the PHOENIX Operation planning and execution we have made wide use of the experience of the Bulgarian Armed Forces gathered during previous disaster relief activities in the country and during the participation of Bulgarian military in the missions in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The achievement of the operation goals is being supported by active media policy and purposeful civil-military cooperation.