Hundreds of people have died across Europe and thousands more were stranded because of the heavy snow in the Balkans since the cold snap began in January. The ministry also called on the people Wednesday to be careful when using coal heaters after it reported that one person died of asphyxiation. In The Hague, Dutch troops joined a race against time to prepare ice for a legendary 125-mile (200 kilometer) race across frozen waterways in the northern Netherlands that could be staged for the first time in 15 years. Defense Ministry spokesman Peter Grotens sald a group of 50 soldiers was shoveling snow along a possible alternative route in case ice on part of the traditional track of the Elfstedentocht, or 11 Cities Tour, is too weak to support the 16,000 skaters who would take part if organizers stage the race. Grotens said Wednesday the troops are stationed nearby and volunteered to help.
Snow cuts off hundreds of villages
Heavy snowfall across eastern Europe has cut off hundreds of villages and rescue teams struggled to evacuate people in southern Bulgaria where rain and melting snow had caused a dam wall to break, flooding an entire village.
The cold snap has killed hundreds of people across Europe and temperatures in some countries plummeted to nearly minus 40C (minus 40F). Officials on Tuesday warned of flooding when temperatures rise and snow melts.
Around 146 towns and villages in Romania were isolated with no road or train connections because of blizzards. Up to 174 villages had no electricity, said Alin Maghiar, spokeman for Romania’s emergency department.
Electricity was also cut off to 300 towns and villages in Bulgaria, roads were closed and several border checkpoints with Romania and Turkey were shut, the Interior Ministry said. The ministry said more heavy snowfall was expected. Melting snow had caused a dam wall to break and flood an entire village in southern Bulgaria on Monday. Four people drowned and more than 50 were evacuated. Four more people died when their cars were swept away by high waters.
“It was terrifying,” Iliyan Todorov from the village of Biser told Trud daily. “We were warned that the tsunami was coming only five minutes before the wave came...We survived by a miracle.” European Commissioner for Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva said “the worst is yet to come” after visiting Biser.
“The next two weeks may be really hard. The warmer weather will cause melting of the snow and the situation will most probably worsen,” private broadcaster bTV quoted her as saying.
In the worst affected country, Ukraine, 135 people were confirmed dead up to Monday and forecasters said bitter temperatures, as low as minus 30 Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit), would continue until at least Feb. 15. The Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas have been closed due to strong winds and Romania’s main port of Constanta and other smaller ports were also shut down on Tuesday. Authorities in Serbia said they were preparing to use explosives to break ice on the rivers Ibar and Danube.
