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Szilard Gergely / AFP - Getty Images
A man walks past a damaged truck at the site of an accident on the E71 motorway, near the Croatian, Slovenian and Hungarian borders on Friday, a day after a heavy snow storm hit the area.
BUDAPEST - Hungary deployed tanks to reach thousands of motorists trapped in heavy snow on Friday as a sudden cold snap and high winds struck parts of the Balkans, Slovakia and Poland, leaving at least two people dead.
Snow stranded people in cars, buses and trains through the night and conspired with strong winds to cut off dozens of towns and villages in Hungary.
"The situation is most critical on the M1 motorway (linking Budapest and Vienna) where hundreds of cars are stranded in the snow, most of them for 18-20 hours now," said Marton Hajdu, spokesman for the National Directorate for Disaster Management.
Reuters photographer traveling with a rescue convoy said high winds had caused snowdrifts on the motorway up to three feet high.
People took to Facebook to appeal for help.
"At the Gyorszentivan exit on the motorway I have friends stranded since yesterday evening," wrote Ibolya Csukovics. "Can anyone help? They've run out of food and drink."
The government said it had sent in tanks and other military vehicles with caterpillar tracks.
The weekend's premier league and second tier football fixtures were canceled, with night-time temperatures expected to drop as low as 5 degrees Fahrenheit).
After a relatively mild winter for much of the region, almost 200,000 people in Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia were left shivering without electricity on Friday. Heavy rain hit parts of Serbia and Bosnia.
In Bulgaria, one woman was killed when scaffolding collapsed in high winds in the central town of Gabrovo, and a school was evacuated in the southern town of Krichim when wind tore off the roof.
To the south, in Kosovo, a 10-year-old girl drowned when a river burst its banks in heavy rain in the northern town of Skenderaj. Dozens of homes were flooded in the west of the country, a Reuters reporter said.
"The situation is alarming," Klina municipality spokeswoman Samije Gjergjaj told Reuters. She said some 300 people were stranded by floodwater.
"There's just one small boat evacuating these people," said Gjergjaj. "We're waiting for the state emergency services to help out."
Heavy snow also paralyzed parts of southeastern Poland, where police banned heavy lorries from entering the city of Rzeszow for fear they would get stuck.
In eastern Slovakia, snow stranded some 40 lorries on a highway in the High Tatras region. The army deployed hundreds of soldiers to help out and authorities appealed to people to avoid venturing out by car.
Alexey Gromov / AFP - Getty Images
People struggle against wind and drifting snow in the Belarus capital, Minsk, on Friday.
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Impossible. Years ago the alarmists proclaimed that kids in Europe wouldn't know what snow is.
.....and the economic alarmist among us had us living in caves under a communist government.
How about sticking to the report which is weather or is politics the only subject that you can touch on?
Mother Nature showing her powers.
Send in Al Gore...
I just would like to tell the world...the Hungarian government does not help...they sent a warning text message to people's cell phones...no signs of any kind of other help. Simple citizens help each other, supermarkets, restaurants, churches and schools opened their doors to help....and Austria! Hundreds of vehicles arrived to Hungary from Austria to remove the snow on the roads. And today is the anniversary of the revolution in 1848 that led to the Hungarian-Austrian (Habsburg) war....ironic isn't it? Thank you Austria!!!
The habsburgs were rotten. Most austrians are anti hungarian, They did much bad to hungary during the habsburgs rule. My friends town was helped by the hun gov..... I think with your quick jump out at the hun gov shows you would do best living in the usa where they dont do much to help you during a storm, hurricane, etc. This girl is nothing but a whining communist. Hundreds of austrian vehicles..... lol, u liar.
Zsofia is not telling the whole story her post is a real insult on the police, ambulance, and the army and utility crews who were out on the holiday and helped from the first minutes. Who are working hard after the crazy accidents what have caused by some reckless drivers on icy snowy roads blocking the highways. Hungarian people think they are too smart/clever and do not listen to anyone and do not care, too much freedom since fall of communism and cannot handle in good manner, just complains. Too much to learn, still need a couple decades. Good job Zsofia.
Zsofia you must be kidding?You do not even know what are you writing about. You disrespect all the firemen, police, ambulance, army crews who are facing the worst challange of their profession and were out there from the first moment. Stop being smart and blame things on someone else. What about some of the crazy drivers who caused all the troubles not driving according to the weather, causing accidents and keep up thousands of others. No hundreds of vechicles arrived from Austria but they helped as they could, like Hungarians as they can if there is a problem like this. Calm down and if you write anything just try to stay close to the facts. How ironic, if we stay under Austrian or Russian rules this would never happen as this never happens in the USA just think about Sandy, Katrina. Government middle, left, right never going to satisfy everyone at the same time. Stop complaining and keep doing something for others and we will have a good society after 50-80 years of the fall of Communism. For this you do not need goverments or Austria to help. Thank you Zsofia!
well said.... hehehe, that girl is just a austrian communist with problems....
Dear Lackawanna,
I do not know where do you live and I do not know you, period. Have you heard of an online site called Facebook? have you seen all the posts of citizens who have seen the roads in the last two days, and who have been helping people who got stuck in the snow? I am talking about thousands of messages...offering shelter, food, and blankets? Interestingly, most of them have not seen any policeman helping out. Farmers help with their own vehicles....volunteers help removing the snow....and no, I did not disrespect the firemen, ambulance, and military...I know they are out there. Although they started helping yesterday afternoon...by that time hundreds of people were stuck on the roads for 12-18 hours. Are you living in Hungary? Have you received the government's text message that suggested to stay in the car...and if you do not have gas anymore...find another car! Great advice!!!! I also would like to ask if you know anything about the current government? The fact that they ruined the Constitution...they arrest students sitting quietly with banners about the bad situation of the education system...and they call them bloody terrorists. Meanwhile, one of the protectors of the government is a murderer who spent 10 years in prison after he put a sack over his boss's head and shot him.....This is not about the government wanting to satisfy everyone....And you know what? I do not live in Hungary anymore. Therefore, I am pretty objective and always examine both sides before sharing my opinion because I know how dramatic Hungarians can be when they are furious. As for the hundreds of vehicles from Austria....few snow plows, the Austrian Red Cross, and citizens...I could assume that was about at least a hundred...
Yesterday the prime minister announced that the police and other organizations saved everyone on the roads.....I am wondering why we still get help requests from rural parts of the country....
What a joke!!! reckless drivers blocking the roads :)))))))) Yes probably, the 3 meters snow and the wind had nothing to do with it. As I said, I do not know you....but I have pretty good guesses that I am not going to share because I am not disrespectful. Thank you for your opinion, and have a nice day!
Do not defeat Zsofia's comments! I live in the same country, in the West Hungary and I determinedly justify her statements as I heard the same things, the same ways of ordinary people struggled with snow. We'd scarcely had such a heavy blizzard before and the government was not at all prepared for that. We have got the text messages, but the most substantial milestone in assistance was when Austrians sent their Vehicles. They even said they could stay for a few days as they aren't currently needed in Austria.
The things Zsofia stated about the government including education problem is not strictly related to this topic, but she's right, so do not treat her in a humiliating way. I guess her opinion is partly based on her experience and thousands of would-be university students would agree with her.
I just wanted to say, Zsofia, you're right and it was both a brave and a right idea to share your opinion!
With all due respect, since you no longer live there you are doing a bit of speculation just like everyone else on this thread is. You probably have never been subject to a weather event such as this one, but I have. And I can tell you with a degree of certainty that neither government, police, or any other form of aid can be everywhere at once. And the outlying rural areas in every country in world is alway last on the pole.
Sometimes it happens around this time of the year that the winds blow and snow falls and temperatures drop... There were notifications on the tv, radio, internet: everyone knew what was coming. Anyone starting off despite the news on the coming heavy snowfall, took the risk of being stranded. There are certain things that the politicians can not be blamed for, weather is one of them.