Snowbound Europe Struggles to Dig Out After Deadly Storms
Snowbound Europe Struggles to Dig Out After Deadly Storms
BERLIN—Alpine countries across Europe are battling record snowfalls that have claimed the lives of over a dozen people and severed road and air access to entire communities.
German authorities this week declared a state of emergency and called in the army to evacuate stranded residents, bring in supplies, and blow up snow masses that threaten to become avalanches after the southern state of Bavaria became the latest region to be pummeled by the elements.
The massive snow dump follows a summer of heat waves across the continent as weather events become more extreme around the globe, but meteorologists said more research is needed to establish whether there had been a permanent change to the region’s weather patterns.
Towns and villages in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are cut off from the outside world as troops equipped with heavy hardware and emergency services are deployed to rescue holidaymakers and inhabitants near ski resorts.
Twelve people were reported dead by police after accidents including involving avalanches in Germany and Austria. A 9-year-old boy died on Thursday after being crushed by a tree that collapsed under the weight of snow near his home in the Bavarian town of Trautshofen, police said in a statement.
Some schools in the region were closed due to severe weather and hundreds of flights at Germany’s two biggest airports Frankfurt and Munich were canceled.
Meteorologists said the crisis was shaping up to be the most intense snowfall in a century.
Alexander Radlherr of Austria’s official meteorological service said the intensity of snowfall is measured by totalling the amount that falls in a 24-hour period over several consecutive days.
In some regions around Salzburg in Austria that amount is exceeding three meters at an altitude of 800 meters, approaching levels that were last seen a century ago, Mr. Radlherr said in a statement.
While the weather cleared on Friday, more heavy snowfalls were forecast for Sunday across the Alps. In some regions of Austria, the snow levels reached the 4-meter-mark this week.
Red Cross workers were giving blankets, food and warm beverages to hundreds of motorists stuck on a section of the A8 highway in southern Germany in a 20-mile traffic jam that persisted over two days this week. A 54-year-old woman died alone in her car in the queue the cause of her death is so far not known, a police spokeswoman said.
In Austria, a 16-year-old skier called emergency services when he became stuck in deep snow off piste in the St. Anton resort, but he was then buried by an avalanche in front of his family, local police said. Emergency workers couldn’t revive him.
Army units delivered food and supplies to the central Austrian resort of Hohentauern that was cut off from the rest of the country for several days. Authorities in the western city of Innsbruck issued a warning for residents to keep their windows closed and only leave their homes if necessary and for a short period.
In neighboring Switzerland, guests at the Säntis Hotel in Schwägalp had to be evacuated on Friday after a 300-meter-wide avalanche burst into the dining room of the hotel and covered the parking lot, police said in a statement. Three people were slightly injured and had to be taken to a hospital.
Write to Bojan Pancevski at bojan.pancevski@wsj.com
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