Cold, Gray,
Freezing Warsaw
Polish Weather - It's Freezing To Death
Warsaw, Poland 11 January 2010 -Generally associated with hot cocoa by the fireplace and romantic skiing vacations, Poland's winter has been merciless, with Polish authorities reporting about 140 hypothermia deaths, nearly 50,000 people without electricity, PKP trains delayed by as much as 9 hours and homeless shelters overflowing.
Hypothermia is taking more and more lives and the winter season isn't showing signs of letting up.
The lonely, elderly and homeless are at greatest risk, especially when alcohol is added to the mix, said national police. They are keeping their eye out for the desolate in public parks and open spaces, under bridges and in abandoned building sites.
This season, hypothermia has already claimed at least 28 more lives than last, and the weather forecasts said the cold might not ease until late March.
Just yesterday two more deaths were recorded in the Opole province. A man and a woman were recovered from a dumpster and received CPR. The man could not be revived and the woman died later in hospital.
Another man was found just 800 meters from his home. He froze after purchasing alcohol from a nearby convenience store. Intoxication certainly attributed to his death.
Marek Kotański, founder of the Markot out of homelessness movement, said the situation is drastic. With insufficient places for the homeless, some slept on shelter floors. Still, better this than facing the elements.
The director of the Polish Committee for Social Help Ewa Kuruliszwili appealed to people's good will for donations of warm clothing, blankets and bedding. Despite the difficult financial situation of the shelters, the needy will not be turned away. So far, state and charitable shelters have helped about 20,000 people.
Police appeal to anyone who can inform them about persons sitting or lying on the ground, on park benches, at bus stops or in sheds, gazebos and other unheated areas. Police urge us not to be indifferent - our assistance might be the difference between life and death. Information can be given to the police emergency telephone number, call 997.
Polish State Railway
The amount of snow and its many forms made it very difficult to drive about Poland recently. Though the constant blizzard conditions forced all drivers to slow down, resulting in record low rates of fatal accidents, it is not safe to drive.
(Snow, from the stuff that gets compacted into ice by the weight of the cars driving over it, to the delicate snow blown onto the road that forms a frictionless buffer on the road, to the deep soft snow that tyres get buried in, that tends the act like quick sand, the harder you try to get out, the more you're going to get stuck in generally suggests it's not a good time to be driving around. )
But for anyone who was considering public transportation an alternative option, think again.
The Warsaw to Krakow train line has been almost inactive for two days. Trains departing from Warsaw were forced to go through Radom and Kielce rather than the main train line via Grodzisk, which added two hours to the travel time. But once the diverted train got to Kozłowo in the Jędrzejowo area, they faced huge delays. One train was stopped in a field for about 7 hours due to ice-cover on the electrical network. This solution was partially resolved by a locomotive which by-passed the damaged circuit by pulling through one train at a time, a solution currently being used in various locations in the country.
Trains in the other direction, from Warsaw to Gdynia, were delayed by as many as 9 hours.
The freezing over of electrical lines also caused problems in Poznań, Częstochowa, Opole, Krakow, Kielc and Katowice, where passengers expected up to 5 hour delays, while shorter delays of around an hour were normal throughout the country.
PKP PLK spokesperson Krzysztof Łańcucki assured that everywhere, where ice causes a problem with traction, it is being dealt with, but it is a serious problem. And PKP promises the offer compensation for all customers affected by Intercity delays.
However, predictions are that train service cancellations and delays are going to continue to set new records over the coming days.
Europa, Europa
The white stuff is creating havoc outside of Poland as well, with roads, public transport and airports paralysed. Conditions were so desperate that people stocked up on supplies just in case.
Germany may be hit the worst. Frankfurt airport cancelled 226 flights, stranding hundreds of passengers as snow ploughs battled with the impassable runways. Germans were asked to prepare for the possibility of being snowed in for up to four days. As well as food, they should have battery operated radio and an alternative cooking fuel, in case of power shortages.
In cities like Dusseldorf the Red Cross set up heated tents and expected many homeless visitors.
On Friday night an Air Berlin flight with 133 people on board skidded off the runway at Nuremburg and wedged itself in the snow. Fortunately no one was injured, but the airport was temporarily closed.
Also on Friday night German autobahns came to a complete standstill; the French side of the A35 highway was closed off, causing a bumper-to-bumper jam of 400 cars on the German side of the boarder. Drivers and passengers were attended to by rescue teams, who supplied them with blankets and warm beverages. The boarder was reopened hours later, early Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, France was affected by power shortages to thousands of homes, and the Alps and Pyrenees were at a high risk of avalanche. The French A7 highway from Lyon to Marseille was for a while completely impenetrable, and other highways were limited to one clear lane, while regional roads remain completely blocked. Many train services had delays of several hours.
The thick layer of snow that blanketed Switzerland cut off traffic flow through Alpine tunnels for lorries, and people thinking of traveling to or between Britain, France and Belgium should postpone their journeys, if they can.
Belgium's weather forecasters predicted the snow storm but media warned that the country didn't have the infrastructure to deal with the snow storm and won't be able to deal with the inevitable paralysis of the transport network. Yesterday, 50 flights were cancelled and another 90 faced delays at the Zaventem airport, and roads and highways were blocked.
A tornado and buckets of rain came down on Rome on Saturday, tearing off rooftops, uprooting trees, damaging cars and cutting off power to 15,000 people in Latina and 50,000 in the Roman province.
Meanwhile Spain faced a snow storm in the north and flooding in the south.
Great Britain is currently dealing with a shortage of road salt needed to tackle the snow. They have about 6-9 tons, when the estimated requirements are about 15-20 tons. The roads administration will cut their usage 25 per cent in an attempt to ration their dwindling supplies. Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised gas supplies would not run out and that road salt will go "where it is most needed".
Ireland has called on their military to help in their war against the snow, and school children should be happy that the Irish education minister Batt O'Keeffe has closed all schools until Thursday.
Forecast
The Institute of Meteorology and Water Management has almost the entire nation at a level two risk factor, out of a possible three, which means dangerous conditions and threat to property and life. They recommend staying indoors and listening to weather reports.
Currently, there is total cloud cover over the whole country with blizzard conditions and freezing rain which will make the roads particularly slippery. Maximum temperature is -6 C, -2 in Warsaw, with gusty winds reaching 60km/h and up to 90km/h on the coast.
But it's set to get much worse, with temperatures falling overnight and possibly reaching as low as -20C mid-week.
For the latest weather conditions and the updated long range forecast, go to MasterPage
By Victoria Ziarkowski
Freelance Writer
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