1/31/12, "Winter cold snap kills 36 in Europe," Sydney Morning Herald
"Heavy snow and a severe cold snap have killed at least 36 people across eastern Europe, with many areas under emergency measures as schools closed down, roads became impassible and power supplies were cut off.
As temperatures dropped to around minus 20C, authorities opened hundreds of emergency shelters across the region and urged people to be careful and stay indoors. Police went searching for homeless people to make sure they didn't freeze to death.
Ukraine's Emergency Situations Ministry said 18 people died of hypothermia and nearly 500 people sought medical help for frostbites and hypothermia in just three days last week. Twelve of the dead were homeless people whose bodies were discovered on the streets.
Temperatures in parts of Ukraine plunged to minus 16C during the day and minus 23C during the night. Authorities opened 1500 shelters to provide food and heat and shut down schools and nurseries.
At least 10 people froze to death in Poland as the cold reached minus 26C on Monday....
Until now, Poland had been having a mild winter with little snow and temperatures just below freezing.
In central Serbia, three people died and two more were missing and 14 municipalities were operating under emergency decrees. Efforts to clear roads of snow were hampered by strong winds and dozens of towns faced power outages....
In Romania, local media reported four people had died due to the frigid weather. Hungry dogs and puppies near the Romanian capital of Bucharest got a helping hand after a dozen prison inmates shovelled snow on Monday to unblock paths to a stray dog shelter housing 300 dogs.
The strays had been frozen in after snowstorms and icy weather swept Romania. Bucharest is home to some 50,000 stray dogs."...
via Tom Nelson, photo AFP
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