A blizzard in south-west Serbia that has lasted more than 24 hours has caused severe traffic disruptions and serious problems with electricity, water and food supply. Snowdrifts are now up to 3 meters (10 ft.) high and are making traffic flow on several highways extremely difficult. Besides that, more than 500 km (310 mi) of regional roads are now completely impassable, Tanjug News Agency has reported. Further on, some 30 percent of the population in Sjenica Municipality has been left without electric power. Due to the fact that “the current situation is endangering people’s health and lives”, state of emergency has been declared in the municipality.
Things went from bad to worse for an ambulance team last night when they needed to reach a remote village to help a baby whose life was in danger. Although they used four vehicles, it took them more than six hours to get to the location. Fortunately, nobody was injured during the blizzard, Mr. Muraz Turković, a Sjenica Municipality official told the media.
The night between Friday and Saturday has seen some heavy snowfall in other parts of Serbia as well. The regions around the towns of Pirot and Nova Varoš have received up to 20 cm (8 in) of snow during this period alone. Owing to that there is now good 40 cm (16 in) of snow on roads in the Pirot area. The snow layer on Kopaonik Mountain is now 35 cm (14 in) thick, while the winds there have reached the speed of 90 km/h (55 mph). The main issue now is that there are not enough available tools to clean the roads.
Bad weather has also hit several countries in the region. Austria, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bulgaria have all suffered from heavy snowfalls and strong winds which have caused disruptions in traffic and electricity supply.
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