A snowstorm has hit the Balkans

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The power of the storm was fully manifested in Bosnia and Herzegovina but also in Serbia and Croatia. The blizzard was accompanied by strong winds and heavy snowfall which unleashed traffic chaos. The biggest problems were caused by frequent power outages which often could not be restored in a short time.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina electricity outages affected at least 127,000 take-off points and around fifty thousand in Serbia. The electricity supply companies deployed all their workers in the field to fix the faults.

A state of emergency was even declared in western Bosnia after snow blocked all entry and exit points to the village of Drvar home to seventeen thousand residents. As a result of the storm, travel warnings have been issued by authorities across the Balkans. Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia also banned the movement of heavy vehicles and restricted traffic on some roads.

Snow blizzards reached up to two meters in some areas around Drvar. Snow removal was made difficult by a prolonged blizzard. All equipment was deployed to clean up the runoff but even so the cleanup took longer than expected.

In Banja Luka classes at all primary schools were also canceled due to heavy snowfall. The day before classes were also canceled at seventy primary schools in the north-west of Bosnia. Part of Bosnia also faced a complete stoppage of railway traffic. The heavy wet snow also knocked down the distribution pipe which was difficult to access.

Source:AlJazeera/Editorial