The weather is indeed frightful in part of Eastern Europe and has been for the last week. Authorities in Serbia report that more than 11,000 villagers are trapped in the country’s mountains by blizzards and heavy snow. For the last week, the region has been plunged into one of the harshest winters that have been seen in decades. Some regions have experienced temperatures as low as -22°F. The death toll from the frigid temperatures has now risen to over 120 people.
Many of the people stuck in the mountains cannot be reached by emergency crews because the roads are blocked by snow banks as high as 16 feet or five meters. Some of the hardest hit areas in Serbia and Bosnia are waiting for helicopters to drop much needed supplies. Road crews are still trying to clear the snow. On Mount Romanija, which is near Sarajevo, a helicopter was used to bring supplies to a monastery where only one nun lives. There are a few villagers how live around the monastery.
The Serbian town of Sijenica is in dire need of diesel fuel. The town’s fuel supply is very low and it has been either snowing or freezing cold for the last 26 days straight. Predrag Maric, a police official said that the townspeople have enough food, but other supplies are drastically low. All residents have been urged to stay inside.
Many of the deaths have been the homeless. According to a spokeswoman for the Polish government, Malgorzata Wozniak, there have been several homeless people who were under the influence of alcohol and did not seek shelter in one of the heating stations. Instead, they went into unheated buildings and simply died in their sleep. Some of the other deaths have come from carbon monoxide poisoning after using charcoal heaters inside their homes.
