Extreme Cold Weather in Romania
The extremely low temperatures continue to take their toll in Romania, as the number of deaths caused by the cold snap rises every day. Most of the victims are homeless or elderly people.
Articol de Radio România Internaţional, 05 Februarie 2012, 17:48
In central Romania, temperatures have dropped to a record-low of –33 degrees centigrade.
Following this period of cold weather, meteorologists have issued a ‘’code yellow’’ warning due to the heavy snowfalls and strong winds in most areas of the country, which will be in place until Sunday.
The Health Ministry has urged the population, particularly children and old people, to refrain from going outside due to the cold, to observe general hygiene rules in order to avert disease, and to eat protein-rich food, as well as fruit and vegetables.
In the past few days the emergency services transported hundreds of homeless people suffering from hypothermia to social centers and hospitals.
In large cities, thermal energy and natural gas consumption have hit record highs, while thousands reported problems related to home heating. Romania was forced to supplement its natural gas with imports as of January, after gas consumption reported a 20% hike.
The authorities are estimating the situation will be repeated in February.
In another move, Romanian officials have announced traffic restrictions on several national and county roads, where the traffic has come to a standstill due to the massive snowfalls, especially in eastern Romania.
Moreover, blizzards and the severe cold snap have also disturbed railway and air traffic, while low temperatures and strong wind have caused havoc in Black Sea ports. Large pieces of ice are currently slowing down maritime traffic on the Black Sea-Danube canal.
The harshness of this winter season has also affected miners, who were forced to call all activity to a halt for the next couple of days, due to risk of technical problems caused by the cold weather.
Moreover, several schools in rural areas in the east have been shut down, since the snow has made it impossible for children to get in.
Problems across Europe
In fact, the cold snap is causing severe problems all across Europe.
At least 80 people were killed by the extreme temperatures of the past few days.
Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Serbia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Russia have reported serious problems.
Large tents were set up in some cities to shelter homeless and elderly people, who are the most vulnerable to the cold.
The wave of polar air that has swept Europe has also triggered a hike in grain and electricity prices, and has delayed natural gas deliveries.
Forecasters announced the lowest temperatures in the past 60 years would hit several countries.
