Impact аssessment of the September 2022 disaster in the area of Karavelovo, Bogdan, and Slatina villages, Karlovo Municipality

Abstract

On September 2nd, 2022, an intense and prolonged rainfall event caused severe flooding, landslides, debris flows, and groundwater rise, resulting in substantial damage, particularly in the northern slopes of Sredna Gora Mountain in Central Bulgaria. Various methodologies, including field analysis, remote sensing, and GIS tools, were employed to analyze the disaster’s causes and field conditions. Active sediment sources, deposition patterns, and mapping techniques were used to document the disaster’s impact. The results showed that the disaster resulted from the formation of numerous landslides, and rapid hydrological response led to riverine flooding, high-speed flows, and sediment deposition. An important contribution of this study is the generated landslide inventory map, that can be used for mountain road reconstruction and the planning of mitigation measures.