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Two dead as wintry storms blast Bulgaria and Turkey
Sofia (AFP) Jan 23, 2010 Temperatures plummeted as low as minus 19 degrees Celsius (minus 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) in Bulgaria and Turkey on Saturday as violent snowstorms caused transport chaos and left two dead. The Bulgarian authorities urged people to avoid travelling if possible after heavy snow in the east of the country left dozens of cars and lorries stranded and trapped a train near the border with Romania. A man suffering a heart attack died in the northeastern Bulgarian region of Silistra when the ambulance he was in became trapped by snow. All roads were closed in the Dobritch region, also in Bulgaria's northeast, where the temperature on Saturday reached a high of minus 12 degrees Celsius, rising from minus 19 overnight. Violent winds forced the port and airport in the Black Sea city of Varna to close, and dozens of villages were left without power. Food supplies in the Black Sea resort of Sinemorets, near the Turkish border, were running low after the village was cut off by almost a metre of snow, Bulgarian national radio reported. Winds reached speeds of 85 kilometres an hour (52 mph) in northwest Turkey, bringing down trees and damaging electricity pylons, leaving parts of Istanbul without power for four hours, according to the Anatolia news agency. A 75-year-old man in the village of Cinarli, around 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of Istanbul, died after neighbours found him in an advanced state of hypothermia, the news agency said. A bus flipped over in the Istanbul suburbs, injuring 10 people, and traffic was badly disrupted near the Bulgarian and Greek borders, Anatolia said. The wintry weather is expected to continue for several days, and the snow could reach 35 centimetres (14 inches) in the high parts of Istanbul, according to the city's natural disaster coordination centre.
Evacuation orders lifted as California weather eases Around 800 residents were issued with mandatory evacuation orders earlier this week amid fears of mudslides and flooding after fierce storms packing gale-force winds and torrential rain lashed the state. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told reporters Friday that the evacuated areas -- near steep hillsides stripped bare of vegetation during last year's wildfires -- had been declared safe. "We have been very, very fortunatate," Villaraigosa said. "Since early this morning teams of city engineers and geologists have been examining the affected area and it is now safe for residents who have been evacuated to return. "That is true for all but one resident. Everyone else can return home." Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who declared states of emergency in five areas across California on Thursday, meanwhile said 82,000 people across the state continued to be affected by power outages.
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Snowstorms wreak havoc in BulgariaSofia (AFP) Jan 19, 2010 Snowstorms wreaked havoc in northeastern Bulgaria Tuesday, prompting authorities to call a state of emergency in at least six small municipalities, the civil defence service said. All roads in the area around Dobrich were closed by snowdrifts, road maintenance officials said. The Black Sea port of Varna and the airports in Varna and Burgas, further south, were also shut. Schools were ... read more |
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