Romania snowed-in: dozens of towns cut off and several county roads blocked

Botosani and Neamt counties were on the lips of the prefects participating in the video-conference with Mircea Dusa, Ministry of Internal Affairs this morning (December 17 ) as these regions have now reached a critical state because of the heavy snowfalls, according to Mediafax. In Botosani county, 27 districts are cut off, while all county roads and most national roads are blocked. Circulation in Neamt county is also very difficult due to several county roads being shut down because of the snow. “We have all medical cases under control,” stated Costica Macaleti, Botosani prefect, during the video-conference. The heavy snow put several Botosani patients in difficulty, with a man suffering from diabetes being left without insulin and two pregnant women giving birth at home under circumstances that could have put their lives in danger. Restoring the power supply is also on the list of the prefects’ to do lists for now. In Botosani, 13 districts were initially left in the dark, but the authorities have managed to reconnect three of them to the network and they are still working on getting things back to normal in three or four other locations. "We are not dealing with particularly serious issues at the moment,” noted the Botosani prefect. “A total of 27 districts are isolated, but there are no special cases in which access to specific villages is blocked or we cannot intervene. City Hall employees are now working round the clock," added the prefect. In Neamt county, the authorities are waiting for the wind to subside so that the removal of snow from access roads can begin. “Our equipment is ready and when the wind decreases in intensity we will begin snow removal operations,” stated Ilie Mitea, Neamt county prefect. "If tonight there appear any health-related issues we are ready with a snowmobile from the mountain rescue service and with a large truck for interventions in the respective areas," added Mitea. This white terror episode might not be close to its end. The National Meteorology Administration has issued a code yellow warning, valid until this evening, for Suceava, Botosani, Iasi, Neamt, Bacau and Vaslui counties. This puts the northern and central area of Moldova under the risk of heavy snow. The wind is likely to reach 50 - 55 km per hour in these locations and mixed – snow and rain- precipitations are also expected to further affect the state of road circulation. Close to 300 people are trapped in their cars due to snow-related road blockages at the moment, while 300 students in the affected areas have been asked not to go to school this morning because of the same circulation issues. Road traffic in Giurgiu, Covasna, Alba and Cluj counties is also affected by fog, according to the information provided by the Infotraffic Center. Ioana Jelea, ioana.jelea@romania-insider.com