SEVLIEVO, BULGARIA — A violent hailstorm unleashed widespread destruction across several villages in the Sevlievo region late Thursday afternoon, battering homes, gardens, and vehicles with hailstones as large as chicken eggs, the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported.
The storm, which swept through the area with sudden and ferocious intensity, left behind a trail of damage, especially in the village of Batoshevo, where residents say their entire spring harvest has been destroyed.
“We made it through the late frosts just fine. The trees—apples, pears, plums—were coming along beautifully. Now this hail has finished us off,” said Nedjo Marinov, mayor of Batoshevo. “There’s nothing left. And now, it’s all mud. The main road near Karamichevtsi is buried. The streets were swallowed up by ice.”
Images and footage circulating on social media show rural streets blanketed in ice and gardens reduced to muddy ruins. Cars were dented, rooftops were torn, and plastic greenhouses were shredded by the impact of the hailstones.
According to the Sevlievo Municipality, the storm affected a broad swath of villages, including Gorna Rositsa, Shuma, Batoshevo, Lovnidol, Gradnitsa, Karamichevtsi, Dushevski Kolibi, Kastel, and Tarnovo. Local officials described the damage as “severe,” with the most extensive losses occurring in private gardens and small-scale farms. In many cases, crops were flattened to the ground within minutes.
“I had planted everything just a week ago—tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers,” said a resident of Lovnidol. “Now, all of it is gone. It’s heartbreaking.”
Meteorologists had issued thunderstorm warnings earlier in the day, but few anticipated the scale of the hail. The freak weather event comes amid an increasingly volatile climate in Bulgaria, where sudden, extreme weather patterns are becoming more frequent.
Despite the scale of the destruction, most affected residents will not be eligible for government compensation. Under current regulations, garden crops that are not deemed economically significant do not qualify for disaster relief. However, registered agricultural producers are eligible to apply for assistance.
The Sevlievo Municipality has urged all eligible farmers to file claims with their local Agriculture office within ten working days of the incident. Documentation, including photographs of the damage and proof of registration, will be required for compensation requests.
For many residents, the storm has not only devastated crops but also strained their already fragile economic outlook.
“This wasn’t just a hobby garden. It fed my family through the season,” said an elderly woman from Gradnitsa. “Now I don’t know what we’ll do.”
Clean-up operations are already underway, with municipal crews attempting to clear the blocked roads and assist residents with basic recovery efforts. However, with more rain forecast in the coming days, fears remain that conditions could worsen before the region begins to recover.
As villagers pick through the remnants of their spring hopes, the storm stands as another grim reminder of nature’s unpredictability—and the vulnerability of small rural communities.