Traffic is difficult on Romania's county and national roads in the regions under code orange alert against snow and blizzard
Traffic and electricity have been disrupted, schools, kindergartens and ports have been closed down because of heavy snowfalls and gale-force winds in more than half of Romania's territory, which is under code orange alert. The most affected counties are those in the centre, northeast, east and some in the southeast of the country. The Romanian Interior Minister Carmen Dan has announced that hundreds of localities have been left without electricity because of blizzard, tens of thousands of consumers being affected by a power outage. Trees have fallen down, damaging power lines and reparation works are rendered difficult by the thick snow layer.
Road traffic is disrupted on several county and national roads, with hundreds of cars waiting in line. The police has imposed traffic bans on some road segments, for vehicles with a total weight of over 7.5 tons, irrespective of their winter gear. The line authorities say specific actions are taken in the affected areas, mainly on the segments of road built on steep terrain, to avoid traffic jams. Traffic is also difficult because of snow and low visibility on the A2 highway, linking Bucharest to Constanta, in the south-east. Hundreds of snow clearing vehicles are also running along the most affected roads, to remove snow and spread ice-melting chemicals or salt.
The seaports of Constanta North, Constanta South and Mangalia, in south-eastern Romania, have been closed because of gusty wind and low visibility whereas loading and unloading activities have been brought to a halt. The Constanta South-Agigea River Port has been closed and traffic on the Danube-Black Sea Canal has been restricted. The "Port Control" officers have sent weather notifications, high- seas- forecast and storm warnings and called on ship captains in the area to take supplementary safety measures on board, to avoid accidents. The Education Minister Liviu Pop has announced that classes have been suspended in several schools and kindergartens in the counties affected by strong blizzard.
However, meteorologists say the weather will improve in the following days, with precipitations falling mainly in the east of the country. Although it will be warmer than usual for this time of the year, the real feel temperatures will be lower than normal because of wind, which might exceed 100 km/h at high altitudes, especially on mountain ridges. On Friday, temperatures will increase in southern and southeastern Romania, up to 9 - 10 degrees Celsius, meteorologists also say. (Translated by Diana Vijeu)
Useful Links
Copyright © . All rights reserved