Snow strands thousands in cars
Source: Agencies |
March 16, 2013, Saturday
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HUNGARY deployed tanks to reach thousands of motorists trapped in heavy snow yesterday as a sudden cold snap and high winds struck parts of the Balkans, Slovakia, Poland and Belarus, leaving at least two people dead.
Snow stranded people in cars, buses and trains through the night and conspired with strong winds to cut off dozens of towns and villages in Hungary.
"The situation is most critical on the M1 motorway (linking Budapest and Vienna) where hundreds of cars are stranded in the snow, most of them for 18-20 hours now," said Marton Hajdu, spokesman for the National Directorate for Disaster Management.
High winds have caused snowdrifts on the motorway up to a meter high.
People took to Facebook to appeal for help.
"At the Gyorszentivan exit on the motorway I have friends stranded since yesterday evening," wrote Ibolya Csukovics. "Can anyone help? They've run out of food and drink."
The government has sent in tanks and other military vehicles with caterpillar tracks.
The weekend's premier league and second-tier football fixtures were canceled, with night-time temperatures expected to hit -5 to -15 degrees Celsius.
After a relatively mild winter for much of the region, almost 200,000 people in Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia were left shivering without electricity yesterday. Heavy rain hit parts of Serbia and Bosnia.
In Bulgaria, one woman was killed when scaffolding collapsed in high winds in the central town of Gabrovo, and a school was evacuated in the southern town of Krichim when wind tore off the roof.
To the south, in Kosovo, a 10-year-old girl drowned when a river burst its banks in heavy rain in the northern town of Skenderaj. Dozens of homes were flooded in the west of the country.
"The situation is alarming," Klina municipality spokeswoman Samije Gjergjaj said. She said some 300 people were stranded by 3-meter high floodwater.
"There's just one small boat evacuating these people," Gjergjaj said.
"We're waiting for the state emergency services to help out."
Heavy snow also paralyzed parts of southeast Poland, where police banned heavy trucks from entering the city of Rzeszow for fear they would get stuck.
In east Slovakia, snow stranded some 40 trucks on a highway in the High Tatras region. The army deployed hundreds of soldiers and authorities appealed to people to avoid venturing out by car.
Snow stranded people in cars, buses and trains through the night and conspired with strong winds to cut off dozens of towns and villages in Hungary.
"The situation is most critical on the M1 motorway (linking Budapest and Vienna) where hundreds of cars are stranded in the snow, most of them for 18-20 hours now," said Marton Hajdu, spokesman for the National Directorate for Disaster Management.
High winds have caused snowdrifts on the motorway up to a meter high.
People took to Facebook to appeal for help.
"At the Gyorszentivan exit on the motorway I have friends stranded since yesterday evening," wrote Ibolya Csukovics. "Can anyone help? They've run out of food and drink."
The government has sent in tanks and other military vehicles with caterpillar tracks.
The weekend's premier league and second-tier football fixtures were canceled, with night-time temperatures expected to hit -5 to -15 degrees Celsius.
After a relatively mild winter for much of the region, almost 200,000 people in Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia were left shivering without electricity yesterday. Heavy rain hit parts of Serbia and Bosnia.
In Bulgaria, one woman was killed when scaffolding collapsed in high winds in the central town of Gabrovo, and a school was evacuated in the southern town of Krichim when wind tore off the roof.
To the south, in Kosovo, a 10-year-old girl drowned when a river burst its banks in heavy rain in the northern town of Skenderaj. Dozens of homes were flooded in the west of the country.
"The situation is alarming," Klina municipality spokeswoman Samije Gjergjaj said. She said some 300 people were stranded by 3-meter high floodwater.
"There's just one small boat evacuating these people," Gjergjaj said.
"We're waiting for the state emergency services to help out."
Heavy snow also paralyzed parts of southeast Poland, where police banned heavy trucks from entering the city of Rzeszow for fear they would get stuck.
In east Slovakia, snow stranded some 40 trucks on a highway in the High Tatras region. The army deployed hundreds of soldiers and authorities appealed to people to avoid venturing out by car.
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