storm
Chaos caused by snowstorms in Eastern Europe
A car got stuck in the snow on the road to the airport in Pograd, Slovakia. photo
© Adriana Hudecová/TASR/dpa
Winter is back and has caused accidents and power outages in some eastern countries. At least two people die in Poland.
Heavy snowfalls have led to numerous accidents and widespread power outages in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. According to media reports, at least two people died in weather-related accidents in Poland on Saturday.
In the Silesian town of Cisiec, south of Katowice, an elderly woman died after a tree that fell during a storm severely damaged her family home. As a fire department spokesman told the PAP news agency, the pensioner was found by firefighters in the house. The TV channel TVN24 reported more than 140 traffic accidents related to heavy snowfall and slippery roads. A woman crashed her car into a tree in the Gdansk district and died.
“Exceptional situation” in northern Slovakia
According to the TASR news agency, a crisis team in northern Slovakia imposed the so-called “exceptional situation” on Saturday over 27 municipalities, which allows special emergency measures and restrictions. Several popular ski resorts were closed for the weekend due to dangerous storms. Residents of the regional capital Zilina and surrounding towns were asked not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.
Tens of thousands of households in the Czech Republic were without electricity on Saturday. As the CTK news agency reported, trees that fell on cables were usually the cause. A tree fell on a moving car near the Czech town of Jablonne nad Orlici, not far from the Polish border. Two injured people had to be freed from the vehicle by firefighters.