Southeast Europe smothers in heat wave

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Southeast Europe smothers in heat wave

By PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (July 5, 2000 2:23 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - A heat wave from the Sahara desert has created scorching conditions across southeast Europe, killing at least eight people and breaking century-old records, meteorologists said Wednesday.

Temperatures reached as high as 111 degrees in Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Italy on Wednesday, officials said, and many regions were bracing for even hotter weather Thursday.

The average temperature for much of the Balkans at this time of year varies between 86 degrees and 95 degrees.

In Romania, hospitals were overcrowded with patients who suffered heart attacks, heat-related shock or fainting spells. The health ministry said "many deaths" occurred nationwide, but released no figures.

As temperatures climbed to 107 degrees, the Romanian government told employees to stay home because many offices lack air conditioning.

The heat and dry conditions sparked a rash of fires; Romanian firefighters fought 136 blazes over the past 24 hours. Two people died and 26 others were injured, some seriously.

In neighboring Bulgaria, temperatures hit their highest mark in 112 years, reaching a record 104 degrees in the capital of Sofia. The heat has so far killed four elderly people suffering from heart conditions and high blood pressure, Bulgarian health officials reported, and at least 50 people were hospitalized.

Meteorologists blame the heat on hot air masses moving north from Africa.

"We have the maximum of heat masses from the Sahara Desert in Africa," said Greek meteorologist Nikos Kanderes. "The thermal invasion reached up to the northern Balkans."

Kanderes said a cooler air mass from central Europe may not break through until Tuesday.

In Turkey, temperatures soared to 104 degrees in places, but meteorologists predicted the real heat wave would hit the country Thursday. The elderly and the sick were advised to stay indoors.

In Macedonia, the thermometer in the capital Skopje showed 111 degrees, while hot winds blowing across the plains outside the city forced residents indoors. Authorities shortened working hours and advised people to stay indoors and drink a lot of water.

Just across the Macedonian border, in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo, temperatures soared to 108 degrees despite brisk winds that provided little relief and filled the air in the capital Pristina with dust and debris.

In Belgrade, the Yugoslav capital, the heat pushed aside political issues as the pro-government Politika daily said Tuesday was the hottest July 4 in 114 years, reaching 110 degrees.

The National Weather Service in Greece issued an emergency bulletin warning people that temperatures would remain as high as 111 degrees on Thursday.

There were reports of two elderly people dying from heatstroke in the northern Greek city of Ioannina. The country was also hit by sporadic blackouts as power consumption hit record levels because of the continuous use of air conditioners.

Climate-controlled public auditoriums and indoor stadiums have been opened to people without air conditioners, and the government at the beginning of the week activated a civil defense plan to deal with medical emergencies and possible brush or forest fires.

Across the Ionian Sea in Italy, wildfires blazed amid a blistering heat wave, burning a pine forest near Rome and eating up large swaths in southern Italy and on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.

Temperatures rose as high as 104 degrees at the tip of the Italian peninsula and the high in Rome was a sweltering 97 degrees.

http://www.nandotimes.com/noframes/story/0,2107,500224626-500322335-501821003-0,00.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 05, 2000

Answers

Southeastern Europe not likely to get a break from deadly heat wave July 7, 2000 Web posted at: 9:13 a.m. EDT (1313 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

ZAGREB, Croatia -- Southeastern Europe remained in the clutches of a deadly Saharan heat wave on Friday, a scorching pocket of hot, dry air that has left scores dead and created conditions ripe for dozens of wildfires that have broken out across the Aegean, Adriatic and Mediterranean regions.

Four people died overnight in southern Turkey, where temperatures topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Thursday and showed no signs of relenting over the weekend.

More than 100 people were hospitalized. Officials said the deaths were caused by heart attacks and brain hemorrhages brought on by the intense and unrelenting heat.

Temperatures this week have broken century-old records across the region -- on the Italian Mediterranean island of Sardinia, the temperature topped 48.9 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) earlier in the week, while on Thursday the mercury reached as high as 44.4 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in Croatia, where as many as 40 people have died in the past week.

Forecasters said Friday's temperatures would be moderately cooler in some parts of the region, but no real break in the oppressive weather could be expected before the beginning of next week.

Health officials in Belgrade, Yugoslavia -- where midday temperatures approach 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) -- warn residents to wear light clothing, stay home during the hottest hours of the day, and drink as much as possible -- not an easy task in some neighborhoods.

Water is a huge problem -- there isn't enough of it in some areas and the city's aging equipment isn't up to pumping what little there is to more hilly sections of town.

"When the water trucks arrive, it is very difficult for our entire neighborhood to get enough water supplies," said one woman. "Sometimes they even bring dirty water which is not drinkable."

A local priest allows his neighbors to draw water from his well, but that, too, is inadequate.

"They have announced rationing of water, but many times we are left without water at all," he said. "I have a feeling that the rationing is not done properly because some people always have water, and we never do."

Crops are also suffering in the Balkans. Yugoslav meteorologist Caslav Stanojevic, though, said the problem in the fields began earlier in the year.

"The main problem for crops this year was at the end of this spring, because the weather was similar to what we have now," he said. "Crops need cool weather and some rain, which we did not have."

CNN Belgrade Bureau Chief Alessio Vinci and Reuters contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2000/WEATHER/07/07/europe.heatwave.02/map.croatia.z agreb.jpg

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 07, 2000.


It would be appropriate to remember our troops in Kosovo, Bosnia and the Gulf theaters. I was talking to a friend today who is a Gulf vet. He told me that the casualty rate from heat was greater than munitions related injuries.

Still got troops in that area folks. These are our boys and girls, so this environmental news relates very much to us. Hate to think of wearing combat gear in those temperatures.

-- mike in houston (mmorris67@hotmail.com), July 12, 2000.


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