Flood chaos in Balkans as Europe begins to thaw
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Dec 6, 2010, 1:36:25 AM12/6/10
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Perilous Times and Climate Change
Flood chaos in Balkans as Europe begins to thaw
A picture taken on December 4, 2010, shows Albanian Civil defence forces evacuating people from their flooded houses in the city of Shkodra. Thousands of people and livestock are being evacuated due to flooding in northwestern Albania. The government declared a state of emergency in the northwestern districts of Albania following days of torrential rain. Photo courtesy AFP.
Heavy rains cut main road between Bulgaria and Greece
Sofia (AFP) Dec 5, 2010 - Heavy rain cut the road linking the Bulgarian capital with the main border into Greece, police announced Sunday, as alerts were in place in parts of the country after flooding and falling temperatures. The E-72 road to the Koulata-Promahon border crossing was closed and drivers wanting to enter Greece had to travel to the Ilinden-Exohi border post about 100 kilometres (60 miles) to the east, they said. The Strouma River broke its banks overnight, flooding the road. A longhaul truck had overturned in the river but there were no victims, police said.
Seven people, including three children, had meanwhile been trapped since Saturday in a cave near the city of Pernik, just west of Sofia, after rising water blocked their access to the exit, authorities said. Flooding had damaged about 30 houses in Pernik, where a dam was destroyed. Alerts were in place in several western and southern areas and while the rains had stopped Sunday, authorities were concerned about black ice after a sharp fall in temperatures. Much of Europe has been struck by an early cold snap, which 46 people dying in freezing weather in Poland since the beginning of November.
by Staff Writers
Berlin (AFP) Dec 5, 2010
An early cold snap slowly released Europe from its icy grip Sunday after days of mayhem and dozens of deaths, but floods displaced thousands in the Balkans and chaos still hit Spanish airports.
In northern Albania, more than 11,000 people were evacuated after a week of torrential rains in the region turned roads into raging torrents of water and left some 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) of farmland under water.
The only way in and out of the town of Shkodra was by boat or helicopter, with streets under two metres (6.5 feet) of water and Albania calling for outside help for the 1,500 police and army working around the clock.
Turkey sent three helicopters and Greece two.
"The situation is very difficult," Albanian President Bamir Topi said.
Authorities fear that more heavy rain could raise water levels further and overwhelm water-gates at hydro-electric power plants.
In neighbouring Montenegro, the situation was still serious on Sunday in the region of Lake Skadar, on the border with Albania and around the capital Podgorica. More than 1,000 soldiers were called to help the population.
In Bosnia meanwhile, three people were killed in northern Bosnia when their home collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains, national radio reported.
Elsewhere temperatures inched higher after a week of bitterly cold weather killed more than 60 people, most of them in Central Europe.
But temperatures remained below freezing point in many areas, and the deaths overnight of a man and a woman in Prague brought the number killed in the cold snap to six in the Czech capital.
In Poland, five more people died, bringing the death toll there to 36 since the beginning of the month and to 51 since the start of November.
Temperatures early Sunday fell to minus 24 Celsius (minus 11 Fahrenheit) in the south of the country.
Britain, shivering in the earliest widespread snowfalls of winter since 1993, was one of the countries worst affected with two of its major transport hubs scrapping all flights last week.
By Sunday milder weather had caused the snow to disappear completely in some areas, and the situation on the roads, railways and at airports was much improved. But forecasters warned that temperatures would fall again this week.
In one pub in Blakey Ridge, northern England, five employees snowed in for the past eight days were hoping to be liberated later on Sunday, with the novelty of the situation having long worn off.
"We have had people phoning up asking to get trapped in, but it's kind of boring now and I would like to go home," said Daniel Butterworth, one of those in the enforced lock-in.
There have also been several days of chaos at Spanish airports, although this time the weather was not to blame but a wildcat strike by air traffic controllers that closed national airspace for a time.
On Sunday hundreds of thousands of passengers still packed the airports as flights resumed after the first national state of alert since 1975 saw the army put the controllers back to work.
The strike hit an estimated 300,000 passengers on a long holiday weekend, whipping up the most chaotic scenes since an Icelandic volcano erupted in April and halted 100,000 flights worldwide.
In Germany, temperatures rose to just above freezing in many areas, particularly in low-lying areas in the north, but authorities warned motorists of black ice as temperatures plummet again overnight.
A recently introduced law obliges motorists to drive using winter, or all-weather tyres.
In Austria, temperatures of minus 10 Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) were recorded in the east of the country, but milder weather and rain were forecast. Authorities in the state of Tyrol issued avalanche warnings.
In Belgium, the transport was slowy returning to normal, but fresh snowfall contributed to the death of a motorist whose car slid off the road and into the side of a house in the eastern Liege region.
In the Netherlands up to 1,000 transit passengers spent the night at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport.
In Portugal, around 20 secondary roads remained unpassable in the northern mountainous regions.
earlier related report
More than 11,000 people evacuated in Albania floods
Tirana (AFP) Dec 4, 2010 - More than 11,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Albania due to floods that have hit the country in the past week, a civil services spokesman said on Sunday.
In Bosnia, a woman was killed on Sunday in the northern town of Tuzla when her home collapsed after a landslide triggered by heavy rains.
"The situation is critical and there are still regions in the northern part of [Albania] that are isolated" due to floods, Leonard Olli told AFP.
Some 7,500 houses have been damaged and 2,600 were completely flooded, he said.
Main entrances into the northern town of Shkodra were still blocked on Sunday while several parts of the town where the water level is higher than two meters (3.2 feet) have no electricity.
At least 1,400 police and soldiers have been deployed in the northern region to help with the evacuation of residents and to secure food for them.
Albanian authorities on Saturday called for NATO's help to be able to cope with the situation.
"Turkey already sent overnight to Albania three helicopters with a medical team and humanitarian aid while two other helicopters have arrived on Sunday from Greece," Olli said.
Foreign Minister Edmond Haxhinasto on Sunday called a meeting with EU and NATO ambassadors to Albania to ask for their countries' help.
"Material damages are very big," Haxhinasto said in a statement.
In neighbouring Montenegro, the situation was still serious on Sunday in the region of Lake Skadar, on the border with Albania and around the capital Podgorica.
More than 1,000 soldiers were called to help the population.
In Plavnica, near Podgorica, Nikica, a two-tonne hippopotamus, had to leave her flooded pen in a private zoo, after a similar evacuation in January floods.
The border river Drina between Serbia and Bosnia has begun to decrease while the waters of the Sava river in the northwest continued to threaten surrounding areas.
In Bosnia, thousands of people have been evacuated due to the floods in the past week, notably in the east and south.
Flood chaos in Balkans as Europe begins to thaw
A picture taken on December 4, 2010, shows Albanian Civil defence forces evacuating people from their flooded houses in the city of Shkodra. Thousands of people and livestock are being evacuated due to flooding in northwestern Albania. The government declared a state of emergency in the northwestern districts of Albania following days of torrential rain. Photo courtesy AFP.
Heavy rains cut main road between Bulgaria and Greece
Sofia (AFP) Dec 5, 2010 - Heavy rain cut the road linking the Bulgarian capital with the main border into Greece, police announced Sunday, as alerts were in place in parts of the country after flooding and falling temperatures. The E-72 road to the Koulata-Promahon border crossing was closed and drivers wanting to enter Greece had to travel to the Ilinden-Exohi border post about 100 kilometres (60 miles) to the east, they said. The Strouma River broke its banks overnight, flooding the road. A longhaul truck had overturned in the river but there were no victims, police said.
Seven people, including three children, had meanwhile been trapped since Saturday in a cave near the city of Pernik, just west of Sofia, after rising water blocked their access to the exit, authorities said. Flooding had damaged about 30 houses in Pernik, where a dam was destroyed. Alerts were in place in several western and southern areas and while the rains had stopped Sunday, authorities were concerned about black ice after a sharp fall in temperatures. Much of Europe has been struck by an early cold snap, which 46 people dying in freezing weather in Poland since the beginning of November.
by Staff Writers
Berlin (AFP) Dec 5, 2010
An early cold snap slowly released Europe from its icy grip Sunday after days of mayhem and dozens of deaths, but floods displaced thousands in the Balkans and chaos still hit Spanish airports.
In northern Albania, more than 11,000 people were evacuated after a week of torrential rains in the region turned roads into raging torrents of water and left some 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) of farmland under water.
The only way in and out of the town of Shkodra was by boat or helicopter, with streets under two metres (6.5 feet) of water and Albania calling for outside help for the 1,500 police and army working around the clock.
Turkey sent three helicopters and Greece two.
"The situation is very difficult," Albanian President Bamir Topi said.
Authorities fear that more heavy rain could raise water levels further and overwhelm water-gates at hydro-electric power plants.
In neighbouring Montenegro, the situation was still serious on Sunday in the region of Lake Skadar, on the border with Albania and around the capital Podgorica. More than 1,000 soldiers were called to help the population.
In Bosnia meanwhile, three people were killed in northern Bosnia when their home collapsed due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains, national radio reported.
Elsewhere temperatures inched higher after a week of bitterly cold weather killed more than 60 people, most of them in Central Europe.
But temperatures remained below freezing point in many areas, and the deaths overnight of a man and a woman in Prague brought the number killed in the cold snap to six in the Czech capital.
In Poland, five more people died, bringing the death toll there to 36 since the beginning of the month and to 51 since the start of November.
Temperatures early Sunday fell to minus 24 Celsius (minus 11 Fahrenheit) in the south of the country.
Britain, shivering in the earliest widespread snowfalls of winter since 1993, was one of the countries worst affected with two of its major transport hubs scrapping all flights last week.
By Sunday milder weather had caused the snow to disappear completely in some areas, and the situation on the roads, railways and at airports was much improved. But forecasters warned that temperatures would fall again this week.
In one pub in Blakey Ridge, northern England, five employees snowed in for the past eight days were hoping to be liberated later on Sunday, with the novelty of the situation having long worn off.
"We have had people phoning up asking to get trapped in, but it's kind of boring now and I would like to go home," said Daniel Butterworth, one of those in the enforced lock-in.
There have also been several days of chaos at Spanish airports, although this time the weather was not to blame but a wildcat strike by air traffic controllers that closed national airspace for a time.
On Sunday hundreds of thousands of passengers still packed the airports as flights resumed after the first national state of alert since 1975 saw the army put the controllers back to work.
The strike hit an estimated 300,000 passengers on a long holiday weekend, whipping up the most chaotic scenes since an Icelandic volcano erupted in April and halted 100,000 flights worldwide.
In Germany, temperatures rose to just above freezing in many areas, particularly in low-lying areas in the north, but authorities warned motorists of black ice as temperatures plummet again overnight.
A recently introduced law obliges motorists to drive using winter, or all-weather tyres.
In Austria, temperatures of minus 10 Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) were recorded in the east of the country, but milder weather and rain were forecast. Authorities in the state of Tyrol issued avalanche warnings.
In Belgium, the transport was slowy returning to normal, but fresh snowfall contributed to the death of a motorist whose car slid off the road and into the side of a house in the eastern Liege region.
In the Netherlands up to 1,000 transit passengers spent the night at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport.
In Portugal, around 20 secondary roads remained unpassable in the northern mountainous regions.
earlier related report
More than 11,000 people evacuated in Albania floods
Tirana (AFP) Dec 4, 2010 - More than 11,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Albania due to floods that have hit the country in the past week, a civil services spokesman said on Sunday.
In Bosnia, a woman was killed on Sunday in the northern town of Tuzla when her home collapsed after a landslide triggered by heavy rains.
"The situation is critical and there are still regions in the northern part of [Albania] that are isolated" due to floods, Leonard Olli told AFP.
Some 7,500 houses have been damaged and 2,600 were completely flooded, he said.
Main entrances into the northern town of Shkodra were still blocked on Sunday while several parts of the town where the water level is higher than two meters (3.2 feet) have no electricity.
At least 1,400 police and soldiers have been deployed in the northern region to help with the evacuation of residents and to secure food for them.
Albanian authorities on Saturday called for NATO's help to be able to cope with the situation.
"Turkey already sent overnight to Albania three helicopters with a medical team and humanitarian aid while two other helicopters have arrived on Sunday from Greece," Olli said.
Foreign Minister Edmond Haxhinasto on Sunday called a meeting with EU and NATO ambassadors to Albania to ask for their countries' help.
"Material damages are very big," Haxhinasto said in a statement.
In neighbouring Montenegro, the situation was still serious on Sunday in the region of Lake Skadar, on the border with Albania and around the capital Podgorica.
More than 1,000 soldiers were called to help the population.
In Plavnica, near Podgorica, Nikica, a two-tonne hippopotamus, had to leave her flooded pen in a private zoo, after a similar evacuation in January floods.
The border river Drina between Serbia and Bosnia has begun to decrease while the waters of the Sava river in the northwest continued to threaten surrounding areas.
In Bosnia, thousands of people have been evacuated due to the floods in the past week, notably in the east and south.
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