- Title: LATVIA: Heavy snow traps villages on Latvia's Baltic coast.
- Date: 21st December 2009
- Summary: KOLKA, LATVIA (DECEMBER 18, 2009) (REUTERS) VIEW FROM CAR WINDOW, DRIVING ALONG SNOW-LINED ROAD SNOWY TREES IN FOREST HOUSE SEEN THROUGH SNOWY TREE BRANCHES SNOWY TREE BRANCHES, BENT AND BROKEN FROM WEIGHT OF SNOW UNCLEARED ROAD, TRACTOR-ONLY ACCESS TO REMOTE VILLAGES TRAFFIC SIGN READING: ''KOLKA" SEEN FROM CAR WINDOW NARROW CLEARED PATH TO HOUSE ENTRANCE VARIOUS OF KOLKA RESIDENT PETERIS MIGLENIEKS IN YARD DIGGING OUT SNOW-BOUND CAR (SOUNDBITE) (Latvian) RESIDENT OF KOLKA, PETERIS MIGLENIEKS, SAYING: ''No, it has never been like this. I have been living in Kolka for 35 years, but it never has been this crazy. Sure there have been snow blankets but never this thick. I doubt if it has been the case in Latvia for at least the last ten years." MIGLENIEKS REMOVING SNOW AROUND CAR MIGLENIEKS REMOVING SNOW, SNOWPLOWS DRIVING PAST VARIOUS OF NARROW CLEARED PATH IN SNOW TO KINDERGARTEN CAR COVERED IN SNOW UP TO ITS ROOF ROAD WITH SNOW-BOUND CAR VARIOUS OF SNOWPLOW REMOVING SNOW GRITTING VEHICLE VARIOUS OF DIGGERS AT WORK SNOWPLOW SHOVEL CLEARING ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (Latvian) SNOWPLOW DRIVER, ELMARS, SAYING: ''Now I will drive to the other end, then come back, and then again once more and then the road will be cleared. Now when the tractors have levelled it out, I will be able to press the snow wall to the roadsides and make the road broader. It's gonna be alright." DIGGERS CLEARING SNOW IN FRONT OF SNOWPLOW SNOWPLOW SHOVEL CLEARING ROAD VARIOUS OF DIGGERS CLEARING ROAD
- Embargoed: 5th January 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Latvia
- Country: Latvia
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Weather
- Reuters ID: LVA8QJ7XQ93TA5ILNOLT57FWB17I
- Story Text: Unusually heavy snowfall brings several villages to a standstill as snowplows struggle to open the roads.
In Latvia's Baltic Coast region one metre of snow has fallen in the last twenty four hours. As a result several villages in the area have found themselves cut off from the outside world on Friday (December 18).
Early Friday morning Peteris Miglenieks, a resident of the village of Kolka, took up his shovel and dug his way out of his house to the nearby road. His car remained buried up to its roof.
''No, it has never been like this. I have been living in Kolka for 35 years, but it never has been this crazy. Sure there have been snow blankets but never this thick. I doubt if it has been the case in Latvia for at least the last ten years," he said.
While Kolka can still be reached by car, other coastal villages have been completely cut off for twenty four hours.
A small section of road beyond Kolka has been cleared but as yet travel to the more remote villages is only possible by tractor.
The snowplows and gritters are hard at work to clear the snow-bound roads.
''Now I will drive to the other end, then come back, and then again once more and then the road will be cleared. Now when the tractors have levelled it out, I will be able to press the snow wall to the roadsides and make the road broader. It's gonna be alright," said snowplow driver Elmars.
The snow-clearing team has pledged to clear 40 kilometres of road by Friday night but say it will take at least a week to make every village accessible.
The residents of the remote coastal villages have so far not complained about any lack of food, or of interruption to their electricity supply or telephone lines.
Weather forecasters say the situation is unique, and that they cannot find any evidence of such a rapidly developing blanket of snow in Latvia. Snow-fall rates in Kolka are usually not above 11 centimetres. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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