Snow and blizzard in Romania: schools, roads, ports closed

Snow and blizzard left 88 schools in 14 counties, several main roads and ports closed in different parts of Romania and thousands of people without electricity, after the strong wind knocked down cables. Several heavy trucks remained stuck and traffic on some national roads was disrupted due to trees that fell on the roads.

On the three arms of the Danube, river traffic goes on without restriction, but over 120 locals residing in isolated villages of the Danube Delta were brought this morning to the City of Tulcea (East) with three passenger ships.

Minister of Internal Affairs Carmen Dan said on Thursday that about 32,000 people had no power in 14 counties across Romania. She said several roads were preventively closed overnight in southwest and southern Romania. In a videoconference today with Government representatives across the country, Minister Dan also said she received guarantees that authorities were on alert to remedy the damages.

The Head of the Emergency Situations Department, Raed Arafat, said that almost 2,400 firefighters with more than 1,000 devices intervened in the counties alerted for bad weather by Orange Code and urged regional public authorities to resort to airborne intervention if there were medical cases in areas hardly accessible.

Romanian Defense Ministry too has announced its readiness to intervene, if necessary, with 5,000 troops and over 800 technical means.

Minister of Education, Liviu Pop, stated, after today videoconference at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, that later during the day there will be an announcement with the decision if schools will remain closed tomorrow.

Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei