Wednesday, February 1, 2012

83 die of Snow in Serbia

Helicopters rescue Europeans stranded by snow


BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Rescue helicopters evacuated dozens of people from snow-blocked villages in Serbia and Bosnia and air-lifted in emergency food and medicine as a severe cold spell kept Eastern Europe in its icy grip.
The death toll from the cold rose to 83 on Wednesday and emergency crews worked overtime as temperatures sank to minus 32.5 C (minus 26.5 F) in some areas.
Parts of the Black Sea froze near the Romanian coastline and the rare snow fell on Croatian islands in the Adriatic Sea. In Bulgaria, 16 towns recorded their lowest temperatures since records started 100 years ago as four more people were reported dead from hypothermia.
In central Serbia, choppers pulled out 12 people, including nine who went to a funeral but then could not get back over icy, snow-choked roads. Two more people froze to death in the snow and two others are missing, bringing that nation's death toll to five.
"The situation is dramatic, the snow is up to five meters (16 1/2 feet) high in some areas, you can only see rooftops," said Dr. Milorad Dramacanin, who participated in the helicopter evacuations. end quote. 


So, though we have a lack of snow in California in the Sierras, in Serbia and Japan they have way too much and people are dying. But likely we will see a lot more of this everywhere on earth with extremes both high and low of temperatures, as well as extremes of drought and rain and snow other places. Though the average temperature on earth is rising it also creates more chaotic and unpredictable changes in the weather in all directions as the basic temperature rises here on earth.

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