THESSALONIKI, Greece — Greek authorities have declared a state of emergency in the country's north where several homes were evacuated after the Evros River burst its banks.
Police say rescuers had to extract five elderly people Tuesday from their flooded homes in Ormenio in Thrace, at Greece’s northeastern border with Bulgaria. Several elderly residents were also evacuated overnight from another three villages in the area.
The Evros, which enters Greece from Bulgaria and runs along the border with Turkey, is swollen after days of heavy rainfall, compounded by a burst dam in southern Bulgaria.
The dam on Bulgaria’s Ivanovo Reservoir collapsed on Monday, sending a torrent into the nearby village of Bisser that killed eight people and flooded 700 houses.
